A senior official from Yemen’s Houthis has warned cargo ships in the Red Sea to avoid travelling toward Israel and the occupied territories, after the Iran-aligned group claimed an attack on a commercial tanker earlier in the day,
The Guardian reports.
Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, head of Yemen’s Houthi supreme revolutionary committee, said that ships should avoid heading toward Israel and that any that pass Yemen should keep radios turned on, and quickly respond to Houthi attempts at communication.
Al-Houthi also warned cargo ships against “falsifying their identity” or raising flags different from the country belonging to cargo shipowner.
A Houthis-operated helicopter flying over the cargo ship Galaxy Leader
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In solidarity with Palestinians under attack from Israel in Gaza, the Houthis are using their control of Yemen’s western seaboard, including ports such as Hodeidah, to mount attacks on what it regards as shipping linked to Israel. On Saturday, they said they would target all ships heading to Israel, regardless of their nationality, and warned international shipping companies against dealing with Israeli ports.
On Tuesday, the Houthis said they hit a Norwegian commercial tanker with a missile, in their latest protest against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
The Iran-aligned group attacked the tanker, the Strinda, because it was delivering crude oil to an Israeli terminal and after its crew ignored all warnings, Houthi military spokesperson Yehia Sarea said in a statement.
But the tanker’s owner, Norway’s Mowinckel Chemical Tankers, said the vessel was headed to Italy with a cargo of biofuel feedstock, not crude oil. But it did acknowledge a tentative Israeli port call scheduled for January, details it had not offered in the immediate hours after the attack in the Red Sea.
