Yemen's Houthis claim US offered to recognise their govt in Sanaa

A senior Houthi official has claimed the US offered to recognise the Houthi government in Sanaa in a bid to stop the Yemeni group's attacks, in remarks that a US official said were false.

"There is always communication after every operation we conduct," Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi movement's political bureau, told Al Jazeera Mubasher TV on Monday.

"These calls are based on either threats or presenting some temptations, but they have given up to achieve any accomplishment in that direction."

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the remarks "a total fabrication."

Separately, a US State Department official said: "Houthi propaganda is rarely true or newsworthy. Coverage like this puts a guise of credibility on their misinformation."

Al-Bukhaiti said the calls after attacks included some from the US and the United Kingdom indirectly through mediators and that the threats included direct US military intervention against countries that intervene militarily "in support of Gaza."

The Houthi official's remarks came a day after a ballistic missile from the Iran-aligned group reached central Israel for the first time, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to say Israel would inflict a "heavy price" on them.

Attack on Israel-linked ships

Besides attacks on Israel, the Yemeni group has also continued to launch attacks on ships they say are linked or bound to Israel in support of Palestinians amid the Israeli carnage in Gaza.

The Houthis have damaged more than 80 ships in missile and drone attacks since November, sinking two vessels, seizing another and killing at least three crew members.

In January, the United States put the Houthis back on its list of terrorist groups.

In Palestine's Gaza, Israel has killed over 41,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and wounded nearly 100,000 since then.

Some 10,000 Palestinians are feared buried under the rubble of their bombed homes. Another 10,000 have been abducted by Israel and dumped in Israeli jails and torture chambers.

But experts and some studies say this is just a tip of an iceberg and the actual Palestinian death toll could be around 200,000.

The Israeli onslaught has caused a major shortage of basic necessities, including medicine, water, food and electricity, which increased the spread of diseases.

In the occupied West Bank, Israel has killed over 700 Palestinians.

Yemen has been embroiled in years of civil war. In 2014, the Houthis took control of the capital, Sanaa, and ousted the internationally recognised government.