Alarabiya News: Yemen’s Houthi militia released video footage on Monday showing armed men dropping from a helicopter and seizing a cargo ship in the southern Red Sea.
The footage was released by the militia’s TV channel Al Masirah a day after the ship was hijacked by the Iran-backed group, who said the ship was linked to Israel.
Israel, however, says the seized ship was British-owned and Japanese-operated.
The State Department slammed the Houthis, saying that the US would consult with its allies and UN partners on the next steps. “The Houthi seizure of the motor vessel Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea is a flagrant violation of international law,” State Department Spokesman Matt Miller told reporters.
Miller demanded the “immediate release” of the ship and its crew.
The Bahamas-flagged, British-owned Galaxy Leader is operated by a Japanese firm but has links to Israeli businessman Abraham “Rami” Ungar.
The Houthis said the capture was in retaliation for Israel’s war against Hamas, sparked by the October 7 attack by the Palestinian militants who killed 1,200 people and took about 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials.
More than 13,000 people have since been killed in Israel’s aerial bombardment and ground operations in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, the health ministry there says.
The Houthis warned on Monday that Israeli ships were a “legitimate target.”
“Israeli ships are legitimate targets for us anywhere … and we will not hesitate to take action,” Major General Ali Al-Moshki, a Houthi military official, told the group’s Al-Massirah TV station.
Sunday’s capture of the Galaxy Leader and its 25 international crew came days after the Houthis threatened to target Israeli shipping over the Israel-Hamas war.
Sunday’s ship seizure “is only the beginning,” Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam said Sunday in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, pledging further maritime attacks until Israel halts its Gaza campaign.
Prophetic Link:
“Once more the inhabitants of the earth were presented before me; and again everything was in the utmost confusion. Strife, war, and bloodshed, with famine and pestilence, raged everywhere. Other nations were engaged in this war and confusion. War caused famine. Want and bloodshed caused pestilence. And then men’s hearts failed them for fear, “and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 1, page 268.