Yemen’s Houthi rebels have seized an Israeli ship in the Red Sea, alleging it was in response to Israel’s actions in Gaza. Israel promptly denied ownership of the vessel, stating it was a commercial ship with a multinational crew. The incident follows Houthi threats to target Israeli ships in the Red Sea, and Israel’s Prime Minister denounced it as an “Iranian attack against an international vessel,” attributing the hijacking to Houthi militia with Iranian guidance.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said on Sunday they had seized an Israeli ship in the Red Sea, a claim immediately denied by Israel.
The allegation came days after the rebel group had threatened to target Israeli vessels in the Red Sea over Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that the rebels “seized an Israeli ship and took it to the Yemeni coast.”
Houthi “military forces will continue to carry out military operations against the Israeli enemy until the aggression against Gaza stops and the ugly crimes… against our Palestinian brothers in Gaza and the West Bank stop.”
A Yemeni maritime source said the Houthis “seized a commercial vessel” and took it to the port of Salif in the coastal city of Hodeida which the rebels control, without specifying its nationality.
Israel’s military denied the ship was Israeli. A statement by the army on X said: “The hijacking of a cargo ship by the Houthis near Yemen in the southern Red Sea is a very grave incident of global consequence.”
“The ship departed Turkey on its way to India, staffed by civilians of various nationalities, not including Israelis.
“It is not an Israeli ship,” the Israeli army said in the statement.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also denied the ship was Israeli but denounced, in a statement, “the Iranian attack against an international vessel.”
“The ship, which is owned by a British company and is operated by a Japanese firm, was hijacked with Iran guidance by the Yemenite Houthi militia,” it said.
“Onboard the vessel are 25 crew members of various nationalities including Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Filipino and Mexican,” it added.
