Human Rights Watch denounces deadly Houthi maritime attacks as ‘war crimes’

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Human Rights Watch condemns Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels for deadly attacks that sank two commercial vessels this month, calling them violations of the laws of war.

The Houthis struck the Magic Seas and Eternity C cargo ships in the Red Sea, part of a campaign against maritime traffic they accuse of having links to Israel, launched over the Gaza war.

Fifteen people — including four confirmed dead — remain missing after the July 7 attack on the Eternity C.

The Yemeni rebels claimed to have “rescued” an unspecified number of crew, whose whereabouts are still unknown.

The attacks were “violations of the laws of war amounting to war crimes,” Human Rights Watch says in a statement, adding it found “no evidence that the ships were military targets.”

“They deliberately attacked commercial vessels that could clearly be identified as civilian,” the New York-based group says, adding that “detaining rescued crew members is also prohibited.”