Yemen's Houthis to limit attacks to Israel-linked ships during truce

SANAA: Yemen’s Houthi rebels said Tuesday they would limit their Red Sea attacks to vessels linked to Israel during the ceasefire in the Gaza war.

The Houthis have been attacking shipping in the vital waterway in what they say is solidarity with the Palestinians since November 2023, weeks after Hamas carried out the deadliest attack in Israeli history.

“We have informed international shipping companies that our military operations will focus solely on vessels linked to” Israel during the truce, a Huthi official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Part of Iran’s “axis of resistance”, the Houthis have also repeatedly launched missile and drone attacks on Israel since the war in Gaza began with Hamas’s October 7 attack.

Among the ships targeted in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden were vessels the rebels believed were linked to Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Their campaign has severely disrupted trade routes, prompting the United States and its allies to conduct strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.

Yemen’s Houthis say they will only target Israeli-linked vessels after Gaza ceasefire

The Houthi official also said his movement would halt its attacks against Israeli-linked vessels once every phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was implemented.

The Israel-Hamas deal, announced last week by mediators Qatar and the United States, should see 33 Israeli hostages freed in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners in an initial 42-day phase.

A second, unfinalised phase of the agreement would involve negotiations for a permanent end to the war.

The third and final phase would deal with the reconstruction of Gaza and the return of the remains of hostages who died in captivity.

Months of attacks

On Sunday, the Houthis claimed an attack on an American aircraft carrier and warned of “consequences” for any retaliation during the ceasefire.

The US military, however, dismissed the attack claims as being part of a Houthi “disinformation campaign”.

At the start of their anti-shipping campaign, the Houthis stormed and hijacked a vehicle-carrier, the Galaxy Leader, detaining its 25 international crew who remain captive.

The Houthis later opened the ship as an attraction for Yemeni tourists, who were invited to visit the captured vessel off the rebel-held province of Hodeida.

Another attack saw the Rubymar sink carrying 21,000 tonnes of fertiliser last February after being hit by a Houthi missile. Its crew was evacuated before it went down.

And in August last year, the Sounion tanker carrying more than a million barrels of oil was set ablaze in a Houthi attack, threatening a major environmental disaster before it was eventually towed away and made safe.

Since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023, the rebels, who control much of Yemen, have also fired dozens of missiles and drones at Israel.

They had stepped up their missile launches against Israel in recent weeks, with 16 people wounded in one attack targeting Tel Aviv in December.

In response, Israeli jets struck Houthi targets in a series of air raids, including one that killed four people at Sanaa’s international airport last month.