SANAA/TEL AVIV (dpa-AFX) – The Iran-backed Houthi rebels have hijacked a cargo ship off the coast of Yemen and taken several hostages. The rebels had taken control on board the car transporter “Galaxy Leader”, the Al-Hadath news channel reported on Sunday. According to Israel, there are 25 crew members on board, including from Ukraine, Bulgaria and Mexico as well as the Philippines.
The Houthis said they had hijacked an Israeli ship during a “military operation” in the Red Sea and brought it to the Yemeni coast. The background is a “moral obligation to the oppressed Palestinian people,” said a statement to X from Houthi military spokesman Jahja Sari.
All ships with ties to the “Israeli enemy” would become “legitimate targets,” it said. “If the international community is concerned about the security and stability of the region and does not want to escalate the conflict, it should stop Israel’s aggression against Gaza.” Only on Sunday morning did the Houthis threaten to attack “all ships” with a connection to Israel.
According to Israeli media, the cargo ship is said to be operated by a company partly owned by British-Israeli businessman Rami Ungar. The approximately 190 meter long freighter “Galaxy Leader” for transporting cars was built in 2002 and sails under the flag of the Bahamas.
Yemen is located in the south of the Arabian Peninsula. One of the world’s most important shipping routes runs past it to and from the Suez Canal in Egypt. This canal connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, providing the shortest sea route from Asia to Europe. Around ten percent of all world trade passes through the Red Sea, including oil and liquid gas.
A spokesman for the Israeli army spoke of a “very serious incident with global reach”. The freighter was on its way from Turkey to India with an international crew on board. There are no Israeli nationals on board. He emphasized that it was “not an Israeli ship.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office blamed Iran directly for the attack. “We strongly condemn the Iranian attack on an international ship,” said a spokesman. “This is another act of Iranian terrorism”./jot/DP/jha