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Thousands of Yemenis in the Houthi rebel-controlled capital, Sanaa, demonstrated on Friday following a wave of US-led strikes across rebel-controlled areas of the country.
US and British warplanes, ships and submarines had launched dozens of air strikes across Yemen overnight in retaliation against for months of attacks on Red Sea shipping that the Iran-backed Houthis say are a response to the war in Gaza.
A Houthi spokesman has confirmed five of the group's fighters and been killed and six others wounded across 73 strikes in 28 locations.
Yahya Sarea says Houthi actions in support of Palestinians in the ongoing conflict in Gaza will continue undeterred.
He says the strikes, which Defence Minister Richard Marles says were supported by Australian personnel in non-operational roles, will not go without punishment or retaliation.
"The Yemeni armed forces confirm that they will continue to prevent Israeli ships going to the ports of occupied Palestine from navigation in the Arab and Red Seas."
In response to a threat of a regional escalation of the conflict in Gaza, the U-N Security Council has passed a resolution by vote of 11 to 0, with four abstentions, calling for an end to attacks on commercial and merchant ships.
U-N Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric also urged the U-S, U-K and their allies to avoid acts that could worsen the situation in Yemen itself.
"The secretary-general calls upon all member states defending their vessels from attacks to do so in accordance with international law as stipulated in the resolution. The secretary-general further calls on all parties involved not to escalate even more of the situation in the interest of peace and stability in the Red Sea and the wider region."
Yemen has been in a state of civil war since the Iranian-backed militant group overthrew the government in 2014, with subsequent Saudi Arabian air strikes leaving hundreds of thousands of Yemenis starving or injured.
U-S President Joe Biden has hailed this week's action, which he says have not caused any civilian casualties, as a "success", but has threatened further attacks if the Houthis continue what he says is "outrageous behaviour."
Iran and Russia, who abstained from the Security Council resolution, have both condemned the strikes, which Iran says are a violation of Yemen's sovereignty and international law.
But U-S officials have been quick to downplay the threat of regional escalation.
National Security spokesman John Kirby says the U-S is not interested in a proxy war with Iran.
"Everything the president has been doing has been trying to prevent, uh, any escalation of conflict, uh, including the strikes last night. We want to we want to see these attacks stop. We know that Iran backs the Houthis, just like they back Hezbollah and they back Hamas. We have in the past and we will certainly continue to hold Iran accountable for their destabilising activities."
Experts say the U-S strikes may nevertheless prove to be a "decisive moment", should the conflict in Gaza, which has also seen skirmishes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah on the border with Lebanon, spill over into the wider region.
Farea al-Muslimi is Research Fellow of Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House in London.
He has warned against the air strikes being a distraction, and says de-escalation of regional tensions will only be achieved by an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
"From here either reason and logic will prevail, whether that is in the region or in Yemen. Otherwise, we will truly enter into a new spiral of hell. But once again, I insist, and I believe that what is happening in Yemen is a reflection and repercussions of the Palestinian issue. Any calm in Yemen, any calm in the region in general has to start with Gaza.”
The U-N's Population Fund has also reiterated calls for a humanitarian ceasefire in the besieged enclave, as international criticism of Israel's offensive to eliminate Hamas mounts.
Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 240 hostages captured, of which around 130 are yet to be released, in Hamas' initial October 7 attacks.
The U-N estimates more than 1.9 million people have been internally displaced in Gaza, while Hamas health ministry says more than 23,000 people, around 70% of them women and children, have been killed.
Israel has disputed that figure as it called for the dismissal of genocide charges brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice in The Hague in the Netherlands.
Israel's legal adviser, Tal Becker says its war in Gaza is intended not to wipe out Palestinians, but protect them from Hamas, which he says uses civilians as human shields.
"The key component of genocide, the intention to destroy a people in whole or in part, is totally lacking. What Israel seeks by operating in Gaza is not to destroy a people but to protect the people."
But a spokesperson for United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has hit back, warning alleged breaches of international law by Israel's air and ground offensive risk exposure to liability for war crimes and atrocities.
This comes amid reports that lives were at risk after power shut off at the al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza on Friday, while the main Palestinian communications provider, Paltel, has reported another total internet and mobile blackout.
Dominic Allen, the U-N Population Fund’s Palestinian Representative, says the situation is "beyond despair and desperation."
“We need the enabling environment in order to operate and deliver humanitarian assistance at scale. And this is a highly insecure environment. As I mentioned, nowhere in Gaza is safe. We have sought de-confliction for UN facilities, hospitals, protection should be for all of those facilities and all civilians, but this isn't happening."
