Houthi rebels claim attacks on ships in the Red Sea

NIn a statement published on social media, the Houthis claimed to have carried out an “operation against two Israeli ships in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait”, a strategic waterway that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, targeting the first with a missile and the second with a ‘drone’ (unmanned aircraft).

According to the statement, the ships were identified as “Unity Explorer” and “Number Nine”. The rebel group said the attacks occurred after the vessels rejected warning messages.

The rebels said they would continue to attack Israeli ships “until Israel’s aggression ceases” in the Gaza Strip.

Earlier in the day, maritime security firm Ambrey reported that a British cargo ship was hit by rockets in the Red Sea.

“A British freighter flying the Bahamian flag was reportedly attacked by rockets while crossing the Red Sea, approximately 21 miles west-northwest of Mocha, Yemen,” Ambrey said.

The ship was reportedly hit by a rocket,” the maritime security company added.

According to Ambrey, the ownership and management of the attacked vessel was linked to Dan David Ungar, a British citizen identified as an Israeli resident in Britain’s main business directory.

The British maritime security agency UKMTO indicated, in turn, that it had received a report on the activity of a ‘drone’, “including a potential explosion”, “near Bab el-Mandeb” in Yemen, advising ship commanders in region to “exercise caution”.

The Pentagon also revealed today that the US warship USS Carney and several commercial ships were attacked in the Red Sea.

These incidents come amid rising tensions in the Red Sea, after the Houthi rebels seized the merchant ship Galaxy Leader with its 25 crew members on November 19.

The Galaxy Leader was operated by a Japanese shipping company, but was owned by a British company owned by an Israeli businessman.

Days later, two ballistic missiles were launched from a rebel-controlled area in Yemen, landing about 10 nautical miles from a US destroyer, the USS Mason, according to the Pentagon.

On Wednesday, a US military vessel sailing in the southern Red Sea shot down a drone launched from an area of ​​Yemen controlled by the Houthis.

The rebels are part of the so-called “axis of resistance” against Israel, along with Palestinian groups Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, all supported by Iran, and which have launched a series of ‘drones’ and missiles against Israel since the start of the war in the Strip. Gaza.

Pro-Iranian militias also resumed their attacks today against facilities with a United States presence in Iraq and Syria for the first time after the end, on Friday, of the truce between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The Islamic Resistance group in Iraq said in a statement published on the Telegram network that its fighters attacked “the US occupation base Hajar-Khirbet al Jir, in northeastern Syria, with a large barrage of rockets and hit their targets directly.” .

This new attack on Syrian soil was preceded by another against a military base with a US presence at Erbil airport, in northern Iraq, where the Islamic Resistance said it had launched a ‘drone’ during the last night.

The ongoing war in the Middle East began on October 7 following an attack by the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which included the launch of thousands of rockets into Israel and the infiltration of around 3,000 fighters that killed more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and kidnapped another 240 in Israeli villages near the Gaza Strip.

In retaliation, the Israel Defense Forces directed a relentless offensive by air, land and sea on that Palestinian enclave, killing more than 15,000 people, leaving around 6,000 people buried under the rubble and 1.7 million displaced people, who face a serious humanitarian crisis, faced with the collapse of hospitals and the absence of shelter, drinking water, food, medicine and electricity.

The parties ceased hostilities for a week under a truce brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, but clashes returned on Friday after a lack of agreement to extend the agreement.

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