The Houthis had signaled Friday night they planned a release of prisoners, part of their efforts to ease tensions after the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

The move will authorize harsher penalties on the Iran-backed group, which has attacked Israel and disrupted global shipping trade in the Red Sea for over a year.

Gaza Yemen’s Houthi rebels freed 153 prisoners of war on Saturday, the Red Cross said, one of several overtures in recent days to ease tensions after the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Earlier prisoner releases have been regarded as a way to jump-start talks on a permanent end to Yemen's

The United Nations on Friday suspended all travel into areas held by Yemen’s Houthi rebels after seven more of their staff were detained by the rebels.

Yemen's Houthi group said it will free dozens of prisoners on Saturday, calling the move a "unilateral humanitarian initiative," Abdul Qader al-Murtada, head of the Houthi-run prisoner affairs committee,