After threatening Israel, the Houthi rebels from Yemen have apparently hijacked a freighter and taken several hostages. The Israeli army is horrified.
According to media reports, the Houthi rebels hijacked a cargo ship off the coast of Yemen and took several hostages. The rebels had taken control on board the car transporter “Galaxy Leader”, the Saudi Arabian news channel Al-Hadath reported on Sunday. Al-Hadath did not name a source for this information. According to the Israeli government, the ship has 25 crew members on board.
According to Israeli media, the cargo ship is said to be operated by a company partly owned by British-Israeli businessman Rami Ungar. The approximately 190 meter long “Galaxy Leader” was built in 2002 and sails under the flag of the Bahamas.
A spokesman for the Israeli army spoke of a “very serious incident with global reach”. The freighter was on its way from Turkey to India with an international crew on board. There are no Israeli nationals on board. He emphasized that it was “not an Israeli ship.”
Israel: “This is another act of Iranian terrorism”
On Sunday, the Houthi rebels, supported by the Islamic regime in Iran, threatened to attack “all ships” linked to Israel. From now on, all ships that fly the Israeli flag, that are owned by Israeli companies or that are operated by Israeli companies are a target, said spokesman Jahja Sari. You can read more about the Houthi rebels here.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office blamed Iran directly for the attack. “We strongly condemn the Iranian attack on an international ship,” said a spokesman. According to information, there are people from Ukraine, Bulgaria and Mexico as well as the Philippines on the ship. “This is another act of Iranian terrorism.”