The deputy head of Yemen’s presidential council called on Thursday for international support for ground operations against Houthi rebels in support of US-led airstrikes, AFP reported.

In recent weeks, the rebels have stepped up attacks in the Red Sea, disrupting global communications, against merchant ships they believe are linked to Israel, in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is waging a war against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

The United States, which has created an international force to secure the territory, which is important for global trade, has in recent days launched airstrikes against Houthi positions in Yemen, which has been at war since 2014.

Since 2014, the Yemeni government has lost control of large parts of the territory, including the capital Sana’a, to rebels, and since 2015 it has been supported by a Saudi-led coalition to fight the rebels.

But for Aidarus al-Zubaidi, vice president of the Presidential Council, the operations of this coalition, which also carries out airstrikes, were “insufficient” to defeat the Houthi rebels.

The ground forces, which “belong to the legitimate government” of Yemen, need to be “helped”, he told AFP at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, arguing that “(airstrikes) without ground operations are useless”.

Zubaidi stressed that foreign military aid should focus on intelligence sharing, training and equipping government forces.

“This approach will allow local forces (…) to join the West’s efforts by launching airstrikes” against the Houthi rebels, he added.

“This is a discussion we want to have with the United States and Britain,” which have been involved in strikes against Yemeni rebels, he said.

The Presidential Council was created in 2022 after Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, a refugee in Saudi Arabia, transferred all powers to the body, which is based in Aden, the country’s southern capital.

Ahmed al-Saleh, a special adviser to the presidential council, also believes that the airstrikes “were not decisive in the fight against the Houthis.”

He stressed the importance for the US of “supporting the legitimate government of Yemen and its ground forces and ensuring full coordination” in the fight against the rebels.

In late December, the Houthis and the Yemeni government agreed on a new ceasefire and agreed to start a peace process to end the conflict.