Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis gathered in the capital, Sana’a, and other cities on Friday in large-scale demonstrations expressing support for Gaza and vowing to escalate military operations against Israel-linked targets amid the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza.
Al-Sabeen Square in central Sana’a was filled with demonstrators on Friday, rallying under the banner "Support for Gaza... Our Marches Continue, Our Operations Escalate."
Protesters voiced pride in the operations conducted by the Yemeni Armed Forces against Israeli targets, particularly in maritime zones. They pledged ongoing mobilization and resistance, reaffirming their readiness to confront any new Israeli attacks or pressure from its allies.
Participants carried banners and chanted slogans such as: "O Gaza, this is your front… The sea is yours", "All Yemeni fronts… Are Palestinian fronts", and "O Gaza, we are with you… You are not alone."
A statement delivered by Mohammed Al-Bukaiti, President of Sana’a University, on behalf of the rally, stated: "In response to Allah’s call, striving in His path, and seeking His pleasure, we have gathered today in our million-man marches in support of the oppressed Palestinian Muslim people and in confrontation of the tyranny and crimes of the Zionist-American aggression."
He added that Gaza has faced an “unprecedented genocide” through killing, siege, starvation and thirst for nearly two years, and stressed that “our operations will not stop until this aggression ends,” Yemen's Saba News Agency reported.
Al-Bukaiti also hailed a major naval success by Yemeni forces, probably referring to a recent military operation that targeted the ETERNITY C, a ship en route to Israel’s port of Eilat (Umm al-Rashrash).
According to an earlier statement from Yemen’s armed forces, the vessel was hit by an unmanned surface vehicle and six cruise and ballistic missiles after ignoring warnings. It reportedly sank completely, though the crew was rescued and taken to safety.
The military emphasized that this strike, along with the recent sinking of the Magic Seas, was part of Yemen’s enforcement of a self-declared ban on maritime traffic with Israeli ports in the Red and Arabian Seas. Companies were once again warned against violating the blockade, with the military stressing that operations will continue until “the aggression on Gaza stops and the siege imposed on it is lifted.”
In Friday’s statement, Yemenis praised these naval operations as “shattering the enemy’s remaining hopes” of breaking the blockade, and asserted that “humiliating blows” had been dealt to Israel with international visibility.
The demonstration comes as the humanitarian crisis deepens in Gaza, with Yemeni officials saying their military campaign is meant to pressure Israel and its allies to end the war.
Since the onset of the genocide in October 2023, Yemeni forces have carried out scores of operations in support of the war-hit Gazans, striking targets throughout the occupied Palestinian territories, in addition to targeting Israeli ships or vessels heading towards ports in the territories.
The regime’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed more than 57,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
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