Yemen’s Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, They confiscated a ship this Sunday that was transiting the Red Sea and was diverted to a Yemeni port, after threatening to attack Israeli ships in retaliation for the bombings and the siege against the Gaza Strip, a source of the insurgent movement has told Efe.

The informant, who asked not to be identified, has indicated that the crew of the boat is currently being “investigated.”although he did not confirm that it is an Israeli-owned or flagged ship. However, Arab media have indicated that the hijacked ship is the vehicle transporter ‘Galaxy Leader’, flying the Bahamas flag and partially owned by an Israeli businessman.

The source has pointed out that the Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Sarea will give more details soon in a statement, without providing more information about the event. This comes after Sarea himself reiterated this Sunday that the movement will attack ships flying the Israeli flag and those operated by Israeli-owned companies, while calling for countries to “remove their citizens” who work inside these ships.

For the “brutal Israeli-American aggression”

The Houthi spokesperson has justified this type of actions “to the light of the brutal Israeli-American aggression against the Gaza Stripcharacterized by massacres and daily genocide.” On the 14th, the leader of the insurgents, Abdelmalik al Huti, already warned that the Shiite movement was planning “additional operations to hit Zionist targets in Palestine or elsewhere,” and stated that They would do so “in the Red Sea, particularly in Bab al Mandab and its waters adjacent to Yemeni territorial waters.”

“We will not hesitate to attack them (…) Our eyes are open, in constant surveillance and search for any Israeli ship,” he insisted. Since the start of the war in Gaza on October 7, the Houthis warned that they would not sit “idly” and Since then they have launched a series of missiles and drones against Israeli territory.