Houthis threaten to target Israel-bound ships in the Mediterranean
Iran-backed rebels, who have launched scores of drone and missile attacks on shipping since November, say the escalation will take effect ‘immediately’
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have threatened to extend their attacks on Israel-bound shipping to the Mediterranean after months of strikes on vessels in the Red Sea.
The Iran-backed Houthis, who say they are acting in support of Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war, said the escalation would take effect “immediately.”
In a televised speech Friday, military spokesman Yaha Sarea said Yemen’s Houthis will target ships heading to Israeli ports in any area that is within their range. “We will target any ships heading to Israeli ports in the Mediterranean Sea in any area we are able to reach,” he said.
In a separate statement, Sarea said, the escalation involves “the targeting of all ships that violate the ban (on) Israeli navigation and that head to the ports of occupied Palestine from the Mediterranean Sea in any reachable area within our ample zone.”
The Houthis targeted the MSC Orion container ship on Monday in a drone attack in the Indian Ocean. The Portugal-flagged MSC Orion was sailing between the ports in Sines, Portugal and Salalah, Oman and its registered owner is Zodiac Maritime, according to LSEG data.
Zodiac is partly owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer.
Yemen’s announcement comes less than 24 hours after Iran said Thursday night that it had released the crew of another Portuguese-flagged ship linked to Zodiac Maritime and Ofer. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized the container ship MSC Aries, with a crew of 25, in the Strait of Hormuz on April 13.
The Houthis, who control large swathes of Yemen including much of its Red Sea coast, have launched scores of drone and missile attacks on shipping since November.
Their campaign has prompted US and British reprisal attacks and the formation of an international naval coalition to protect the vital trade route.
With Israel’s Mediterranean ports lying about 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) from northern Yemen, it is unclear how much of a threat the Houthis will pose.
The Houthi arsenal includes ballistic missiles with a range of 1,600 to 1,900 km, and Iranian Shahed-136 drones that can travel up to 2,000 km, experts say.
The rebels previously threatened to extend their attacks to the Indian Ocean and to vessels taking the detour around southern Africa to avoid the Yemeni coast. But their main focus has remained the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
