Cargo ship is ‘hijacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels’ within the Purple Sea – after Iran-backed militia vowed to focus on Israeli-linked vessels

Houthi rebels from Yemen have hijacked a cargo ship with up 22 crew members within the Purple Sea in a ‘grave incident on a worldwide stage’.

The Bahaman-flagged ‘Galaxy Chief’ was boarded by armed males because it travelled south previous the Arabian peninsula on its option to India.

The ship is registered below a British firm which is partially owned by Israeli tycoon Abraham Ungar, and is presently leased out to a Japanese firm, in line with reviews.

It got here hours after the Iranian-backed Houthi militia – which has fought a bloody civil conflict in opposition to the Yemeni authorities because the Nineties – vowed to focus on ships linked to Israel within the Purple Sea in retaliation for the Jewish state’s response to the October 7 assaults.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have confirmed there aren’t any Israeli residents on board and denied the ship was Israeli, however known as it a ‘grave incident’. 

In an announcement launched on social media it mentioned: ‘ The hijacking of a cargo ship by the Houthis close to Yemen within the southern Purple Sea is a really grave incident of world consequence. 

‘The ship departed Turkey on its option to India, staffed by civilians of assorted nationalities, not together with Israelis. It isn’t an Israeli ship.’

It’s reported that the nationalities on board the ship embody Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Filipinos and Mexicans. 

Final week the chief of the Houthis, an Islamist motion which has fired plenty of missiles in direction of Israel in latest weeks, warned they might make additional assaults on the Jewish state. 

Abdulmalik al-Houthi mentioned: ‘Our eyes are open to consistently monitor and seek for any Israeli ship within the Purple Sea, particularly in Bab al-Mandab, and close to Yemeni regional water.’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran for the hijacking, however supplied no proof it had been seized on Iranian orders.

In an announcement issued this afternoon, he mentioned ‘We strongly condemn the Iranian assault in opposition to a global ship’, seemingly referring to the Houthis Iranian backing.

‘The ship, owned by a British firm and operated by a Japanese firm, was hijacked on Iranian whim by the Houthi militia in Yemen.

‘On board the ship are 25 crew members of various nationalities, together with: Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Filipinos and Mexicans.

‘No Israelis have been current on the ship.

‘That is one other act of Iranian terrorism which expresses a leap ahead in Iran’s aggression in opposition to the residents of the free world, and creates worldwide implications relating to the safety of world transport lanes,’ the assertion concluded.

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