US strikes on a fuel port in Yemen killed at least 74 people yesterday, Houthi-run media said, one of the deadliest days since the United States began its attacks on the Iran-backed militants.

The United States has vowed not to halt the large-scale strikes begun last month in its biggest military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January, unless the Houthis cease attacks on Red Sea shipping.

Al Masirah TV said 102 people were also wounded in yesterday's strikes on the western fuel port of Ras Isa, which the US military said aimed to cut off a source of fuel for the Houthi militant group.

Responding to a Reuters query for comment on the Houthis' casualty figure and its own estimate, the US Central Command said it had none beyond the initial announcement of the attacks.

"The objective of these strikes was to degrade the economic source of power of the Houthis, who continue to exploit and bring great pain upon their fellow countrymen," it had said in a post on X.

The US State Department also said a Chinese satellite company is supporting attacks by Houthis on American interests, reports AFP.

"Chang Guang Satellite Technology Company... is directly supporting Iran-backed Houthi terrorist attacks on US interests," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told journalists.

"Their actions -- and Beijing's support of the company, even after our private engagements with them -- is yet another example of China's empty claims to support peace," she said.

Bruce did not initially provide details on the nature of the company's support for the rebels, but later referred to "a Chinese company providing satellite imagery to the Huthis."

Palestinian group Hamas denounced overnight US strikes on the Yemeni fuel port.

"This blatant aggression represents a gross violation of Yemeni sovereignty, a full-fledged war crime, and reaffirms the continuation of hostile American policies targeting the free peoples who reject Zionist and American hegemony in the region," Hamas said in a statement.

Since November 2023, the Houthis have launched dozens of drone and missile attacks on vessels transiting the waterway, saying they were targeting ships linked to Israel in protest over the war in Gaza.

They halted attacks on shipping lanes during a two-month ceasefire in Gaza. Although they vowed to resume strikes after Israel renewed its assault on Gaza last month, they have not claimed any since.

In March, two days of US attacks killed more than 50 people, Houthi officials said.