Yemen rebels say will resume sea attacks if no aid to Gaza in four days

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis will resume attacks on Israeli shipping if aid supplies to Gaza do not resume in four days, the rebels' leader said on Friday.

"If the Israeli enemy continues after the first four days to prevent the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip... then we will resume our naval operations against the Israeli enemy," Abdulmalik al-Houthi said in a televised address.

The Houthis, who control much of the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country, fired scores of drones and missiles at Israeli-linked and other shipping in the Red Sea during the Gaza war, until calling a halt when a ceasefire started in January.

On Sunday, Israel announced it was blocking deliveries to Gaza until Palestinian militant group Hamas accepted its terms for an extension of the ceasefire.

The Houthi threat comes days after the United States re-designated the Yemeni group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and sanctioned seven of its senior figures.