The Yemeni Houthis have opened a new front in the Red Sea

A new naval front has just opened in the conflict between the “Axis of Resistance” – a galaxy of armed groups backed by Iran – and the state of Israel. and his interests. Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed to have captured the Red Sea on Sunday, November 19. The leader of the galaxy, a commercial ship owned by an Israeli businessman, in response to the war waged by the Jewish state against their Palestinian allies Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Since seizing power in Sana’a in 2014, a loyalist armed group The Zaydis, an offshoot of Shiism, armed and supported by Iran, have made fighting Israel a hallmark of their ideology.

“The naval forces of the Yemeni armed forces conducted a military operation in the Red Sea, the result of which was the seizure of an Israeli ship and its transfer to the coast of Yemen.”Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sari said. in the social network. this “seizure” would be based, he said, on “On the religious, humanitarian and moral responsibility towards the oppressed Palestinian people who are subjected to an unjust siege and the continuation of the terrible and terrible massacres committed by the enemy of Israel”.

The Houthis, who control part of the Red Sea coast, are not threatened “Israeli unit vessels and Israeli-owned vessels”He insisted, stressing that the crew was being treated “In accordance with the teachings and values ​​of our Islamic religion.” For Mohamed Abdulsalam, the Group’s Chief Negotiator and Spokesperson, “The seizure of the Israeli ship is a measure that confirms the seriousness of the Yemeni armed forces in conducting a naval battle, whatever the cost.”he added. “This is the beginning.”

25 crew members

According to the specialized website Marine Traffic, leader of the galaxy The Bahamas-flagged vessel was sailing in the Red Sea off the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah on Saturday when its Automatic Tracking and Identification System, or AIS, was disabled, allowing it to conceal its presence. The attack comes days after Yemeni rebels threatened to target Israeli ships in the strategic sea, which lies between northeast Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

According to UK Merchant Marine Operations, the British naval service that maintains contact between military forces stationed in the region and commercial vessels, The leader of the galaxy It was diverted 150 kilometers off the coast of the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, the main port controlled by the Houthis on the Red Sea coast.