Italy will become a target if it takes part in attacks against Yemen, a senior official from Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said in an interview published on Monday.

Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthi's supreme revolutionary committee, told daily La Repubblica that Italy must be neutral in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and put pressure on Israel to stop attacks on Gaza, adding that would be the only way to achieve peace in the region.

Italy said on Friday it would provide the admiral in command of a European Union Red Sea naval mission it has joined to protect ships from attacks by Yemen's Houthi militia.

The mandate of the mission, which will be launched in mid-February, will be to protect commercial ships and intercept attacks, but not take part in strikes against the Houthis, the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said.