SANAA, Jan 26, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - A Huthi delegation discussed on Thursday during a rare visit to Moscow "the need to increase efforts to pressure" the United States and Israel to end the Gaza war, a spokesman for the Yemeni rebels said.
 
   Huthi spokesman Mohammed Abdel Salam met at the head of a rebel delegation with Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov to discuss the ongoing conflict in Gaza, he said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
 
   The Huthis have since mid-November launched frequent attacks on ships traversing the Red Sea in a bid to pressure Israel to end its war in Gaza, threatening trade through the commercially vital route.
 
   The attacks prompted the United States and Britain to launch a series of retaliatory strikes on the Iran-backed rebels, with Washington redesignating the group as a "terrorist" organisation.
 
   Abdel Salam said the meeting with Bogdanov discussed the US and British strikes on the Huthis, affirming that it was more pressing for the United States to "stop the aggression on the Gaza Strip and deliver humanitarian assistance there rather than militarise the Red Sea".
 
   The Russian foreign ministry meanwhile "strongly condemned" the US and British strikes during the talks with the Huthis, saying they were "capable of destabilising the situation on a regional scale".