Yemen’s Houthi rebels said on Wednesday they would free the crew of a merchant ship, the Galaxy Leader, which they captured 14 months ago in the Red Sea as part of a campaign of strikes to help Hamas fight Israel. What was the hijack?
The decision coincided with an announcement on Sunday by the rebel group, which is backed by Iran, to scale back its attacks, following a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict that took effect at the weekend. .
The Houthis took the Galaxy Leader to the Yemeni port of Hodeidah and have held its crew hostage ever since. The World Cargo News website reported in November that its 25 member staff Citizens of the Philippines, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Mexico and Romania were included.
Nasiruddin Amir, a senior Houthi official, said on social media that the detained staff members would be released on Wednesday. Yemeni television channel al-Masira, which is affiliated with the rebels, said the decision was ordered by Houthi leader Abdul Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, and was made in coordination with Hamas and mediated by Oman.
The release could not be independently verified.
The Galaxy Leader, which is designed to carry vehicles, operates under the flag of the Bahamas and was shown on Wednesday as “stopped” in the Red Sea and beyond the range of satellite navigation. According to marine trafficA ship tracking app and website that provides real-time information about ships around the world.
The seizure of the ship, which was sailing from Turkey to India, was one of the most daring maritime operations by the Houthis and came at the start of their campaign in support of Hamas, which on October 7, 2023, attacked Israel. What was attacked? The start of the war in Gaza.
At the time, the Houthis threatened to target Israeli-flagged, owned and operated ships transiting the Red Sea. After the Galaxy leader was captured, a Houthi spokesman announced that the hijacking was a show of support for the “oppressed Palestinian people”.
While Israel’s military said there were no Israelis on board the Galaxy Leader, it appears that an Israeli billionaire, Rami Unger, was at one time the beneficial owner of the company that owned the ship, according to the Paradise Papers, a classified document. A major leak in 2017 exposed a hidden world of wealth and ownership. A beneficial owner of a company is a person who controls it, owns more than a quarter of it or derives a substantial economic benefit from it.
The Houthis’ campaign against Israel has disrupted maritime traffic in one of the world’s most important shipping lanes, forcing many ships to make the long journey around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. .
The group has also launched a series of missile attacks on Israel in recent months. Most of the missiles have been intercepted before reaching Israeli territory, but Israel’s military has carried out a series of airstrikes against rebel-linked targets in Yemen.
Houthi spokesman Muhammad Abdul Salam said Social media On Sunday, he said that even after the ceasefire, support for the Palestinian cause will remain a top priority. The Houthis have said they will stop targeting all ships “after the full implementation of all phases” of the ceasefire agreement. But they said they would continue to target ships owned by Israeli individuals or entities, or ships flying the Israeli flag.
But in an email on Sunday and sent through a Houthi-affiliated groups In talks with the shipping industry, the Houthis warned that if the United States or Britain launched a direct attack on Yemen, they would resume attacks on ships bound for those countries.
