:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/JWDXDRCXIED3BQURHQ7FF2REEM.jpg)
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militia said on Tuesday they targeted an Israeli cargo ship, the MSC Silver, in the Gulf of Aden adjacent to the Red Sea with a number of missiles.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea did not elaborate, but in a statement said the group had also used drones to target a number of US warships in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea as well as sites in the southern Israeli resort town of Eilat.
The Houthis, who control Yemen’s most populous regions, have been attacking vessels with commercial ties to the United States, Britain and Israel in recent months.
US and British forces have responded with multiple strikes on Houthi facilities in Yemen but have so far failed to halt the attacks.
:quality(70):focal(1195x412:1205x422)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/43ZIV252IFHIPG7WM4PLAYU67U.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/KOLVF5TYKMRSVT3IK2MM5XT6TM.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/5QD6ILX5UV53QH7M53XL4CTFDI.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/B5IWRQZW5A4UVKMDEWIMHR7QPA.jpg)
Despite the retaliatory Western strikes, the Houthis have vowed to continue targeting ships in solidarity with Palestinians until Israeli forces stop their war in Gaza.
“There is no danger to international or European navigation so long as there are no aggressive operations, and thus, there is no need to militarise the Red Sea,” Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam said in a post on X on Tuesday.
“What the world is impatiently waiting for is not the militarisation of the Red Sea, but rather an urgent and comprehensive declaration of a ceasefire in Gaza, for humanitarian reasons that are clear to anyone.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the Greek-flagged bulker Sea Champion arrived in the southern Yemeni port of Aden after being attacked in the Red Sea in what appeared to have been a mistaken missile strike by the Houthi militia.
The Sea Champion, which was taking grain from Argentina to Aden, the seat of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, was attacked twice on Monday, with a window damaged but no crew injuries, Greek shipping ministry sources said.
Meanwhile, the US military officials said a Mq-9 drone was shot down near Yemen by the Houthis, the second such incident in recent months.
One of the officials said initial information showed that the US drone, made by General Atomics, was hit near Hodeidah on Monday. The official said information could change and did not say if the drone was in international airspace.
A second official said the drone was shot down by a Houthi surface-to-air missile fired from near Hodeida.
The comments by the officials confirm a claim by the Houthis that they had shot down a drone near the port city.
In November, another Mq-9 was shot down by the Houthis and two drones were brought down by the group in 2019. - Reuters
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024