The Ansar Allah, or the Houthis, who lead the Yemeni government in capital Sanaa, declared that they had forced an Israel-bound ship to turn back on Sunday, December 10, as it was sailing through the Red Sea in violation of the warnings issued a day before, Press Tv reported.
On Saturday, the Yemeni government had announced that it would not allow any ships bound to or returning from Israel to pass through the Bab-al Mandab, the narrow strait which links the Red Sea with the Arabian Sea until Israel ended its genocidal war on Gaza and lifted the blockade on the besieged Palestinian territory. Yahya Sare’e, the spokesperson of Yemeni armed forces, had declared on Saturday that they would target such ships irrespective of their nationality.
Sare’e, however, said that ships destined to Gaza with humanitarian supplies would be allowed to pass through. He also said that ships not destined to Israel or the occupied Palestinian territories could continue their commercial activities as before.
In November, the Houthis had said that ships from Israel were legitimate targets of attack. Subsequently, they captured a ship, Galaxy Leader, which is owned by an Israeli businessman, and in recent days, targeted several other ships headed to Israel.
Due to these attacks, many Israeli commercial ships have been forced to change their routes with Israel’s Eilat port recording around 85% loss in its business according to the media reports. The Houthi-led government in Yemen has also fired missiles and drones targeting Eilat.
The Israeli war in Gaza has killed close to 18,000 Palestinians and injured over 50,000. Almost the entire population of the Palestinian territory is now without any permanent shelter and forced to live without adequate food, water, fuel and medicine due to Israeli blockade on the supply of these essential goods.
