Israel confirms the hijacking of a ship by Yemeni rebels and attributes it to "Iranian terrorism"
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed this Sunday the hijacking of a ship by the Yemeni Houthi militias and attributed what happened to “Iranian terrorism.”. It is a Japanese merchant ship flying the Bahamas flag.
Netanyahu's office condemns the “Iranian attack” against this ship and highlights that it is a vessel owned by a British company managed by a Japanese company. At no time does it confirm that it is an Israeli ship or that it has crew members of this nationality.
“It was an Iranian-guided kidnapping carried out by the Yemeni Houthi militia,” Netanyahu's office said in a statement.. The text reveals that there are 25 crew members on the ship, including Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Filipinos and Mexicans.. “There are no Israelis on board,” he stressed.
For Netanyahu, this “is another act of Iranian terrorism that represents a leap forward in Iran's aggression against the citizens of the free world, with international consequences for the security of global maritime trade,” he added.
Previously, the Israeli Armed Forces had confirmed the kidnapping in waters near Yemen, in the southern Red Sea, “a very serious event on a global level”. “It is a ship that left Turkey bound for India with an international civilian crew, without Israelis. “It is not an Israeli ship,” he stressed.
The Emirati television channel Al Arabiya reported the boarding of the ship 'Galaxy Leader' in the waters of the Red Sea, and highlights that it was an Israeli ship. Lebanese television Al Mayadin reports, citing Houthi sources, that there are 52 crew members on board and that the ship is Israeli.
American television NBC has reported, citing three American sources, that the Houthi militants boarded the ship by descending from a helicopter around 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.. According to NBC it is a ship flying the Bahamas flag.
The Houthis had announced this Sunday attacks against all ships owned or operated by Israeli companies or flying the Israeli flag in the Red Sea in response to the offensive against the Gaza Strip following the assaults carried out on October 7 by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
The group's military spokesman, Yahya Sari, has indicated that its forces will attack these ships “whether they are heading to occupied Palestine”, in reference to Israel, “or anywhere else”, for which he has asked all countries to “withdraw “to their workers on these ships to prevent them from suffering damage, as reported by the Al Masirah television network, linked to the Houthis.
Thus, he has emphasized in a message on his Telegram account that the threat is directed at “ships that carry the flag of the Zionist entity”, “ships operated by Israeli companies” and “ships owned by Israeli companies”, while at the same time he has assured that they have the capacity to reach these ships in the Red Sea “or any other place that the Zionist enemy does not expect.”