Tens of thousands of Yemenis held a mass rally in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Friday to protest against the U.S. airstrikes on Yemen and Israel's offensive in Gaza.
The rally was called by Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi, whose group controls much of northern Yemen.
The rally was held in the Al-Sabeen Square in central Sanaa, hours after the U.S. military conducted 11 airstrikes early Friday morning on several locations in and around the city, according to residents and Houthi-run al-Masirah TV. No casualties were reported.
The U.S. airstrikes on Yemen since mid-March have ignited widespread anger among the Yemenis across the country's north against the United States and its allies.
During the rally, the demonstrators raised the flags of Yemen and Palestine and shouted slogans denouncing the U.S. airstrikes, which they said killed dozens of Yemeni civilians and destroyed numerous homes. They also called on the international community to pressure Israel to end the war on Gaza and to allow desperately needed food and medicine into the territory.
The world has been watching Gaza on television screens, witnessing daily killings of the 2 million Palestinians trapped in the enclave for more than a year and a half.
In Yemen, the U.S. airstrikes on the capital Sanaa, and several other northern provinces since mid-March have killed over 107 Yemeni civilians so far, mostly children and women, with more than 223 others wounded, according to Houthi-controlled health authorities.
Dozens of houses and telephone network facilities have been struck and destroyed in the airstrikes, residents witnessed.
The United States said its strikes aimed to deter Houthis from launching attacks against Israeli and U.S. naval assets in the Red Sea, and U.S. President Donald Trump warned that "hell will rain down" if the Houthis wouldn't stop.
In response, the Houthis expanded rocket and drone attacks to include U.S. aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and warships in the northern Red Sea, and vowed to turn the Red Sea into a "hell."
Last week, Trump's administration announced it had sent another aircraft carrier to the Middle East to back the U.S. Navy.
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Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
