DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: A suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels saw multiple explosions strike near a vessel traveling through the Red Sea on Tuesday, though no damage was immediately reported by the ship, authorities said.
The attack comes as the rebels continue their monthslong assault targeting shipping through a waterway that typically sees $1 trillion in goods pass through it a year over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon.
The Houthis have insisted that the attacks will continue as long as the wars go on, and the assaults already have halved shipping through the region. Meanwhile, a UN panel of experts now allege that the Houthis may be shaking down some shippers for about $180 million a month for safe passage through the area.
A vessel in the southern reaches of the Red Sea, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) southwest of the rebel-held port city of Hodeida, reported the attack, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.
No one was wounded on board in the blasts, and the ship was continuing on its journey, the UKMTO added.
The Houthis didn’t immediately claim the attack. However, it can take the rebels hours or even days before they acknowledge one of their assaults.
The Houthis have targeted more than 90 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October 2023. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign, which also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a US-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have included Western military vessels as well.
The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.
The Houthis have shot down multiple American MQ-9 Reaper drones as well.
The last Houthi maritime attack came Oct. 28 and targeted the Liberian-flagged bulk tanker Motaro. Before that, an Oct. 10 attack targeted the Liberian-flagged chemical tanker Olympic Spirit.
It’s unclear why the Houthis’ attacks have dropped, though they have launched multiple missiles toward Israel as well. On Oct. 17, the US military unleashed B-2 stealth bombers to target underground bunkers used by the rebels. US airstrikes also have been targeting Houthi positions in recent days as well.
Meanwhile, a report by UN experts from October says “the Houthis allegedly collected illegal fees from a few shipping agencies to allow their ships to sail through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden without being attacked.” It put the money generated a month at around $180 million, though it stressed it hadn’t been able to corroborate the information provided by sources to the panel.
The Houthis haven’t directly responded to the allegation. However, the report did include two threatening emails the Houthis sent to shippers, with one of those vessels later coming under attack by the rebels.
A suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels sees explosions near ship in Red Sea
https://arab.news/ws62t
A suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels sees explosions near ship in Red Sea
- The attack comes as the rebels continue their monthslong assault targeting shipping
- The Houthis have insisted that the attacks will continue as long as the wars go on
Israel attacking Lebanon every 4 hours on average: Research
- Independent conflict monitoring organization recorded 1,846 Israeli attacks since start of ceasefire
- UN has recorded more than 10,000 violations, killings of 127 Lebanese civilians
LONDON: Israel is attacking Lebanon at a rate equal to one strike every four hours despite the reaching of a ceasefire more than a year ago, new data has shown.
ACLED, the independent conflict monitoring organization, recorded 1,846 Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the beginning of the ceasefire with Hezbollah.
Only two days each month since then has not seen an Israeli attack on average, Sky News reported.
In recent weeks, Israeli has ramped up cross-border strikes, with December seeing an average of six per day, or one every four hours. It is the fastest pace of attacks by Israel since May.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon said the ceasefire has been violated more than 10,000 times, or once every 53 minutes on average.
That figure includes more than 2,500 ground activities by the Israel Defense Forces and more than 7,800 violations of Lebanese airspace.
UNIFIL has discovered more than 360 weapon and ammunition caches south of the Litani river. These are reported as ceasefire violations.
The discovery of the caches is proof that Hezbollah is seeking to rearm in the south, Israel has claimed.
But Kandice Ardiel, UNIFIL’s deputy spokesperson, said: “None of these weapon caches were guarded. They had no obvious signs of recent use and were presumably abandoned. Many were even destroyed already, or half-destroyed.”
According to UN figures, at least 127 civilians in Lebanon have been killed by Israeli strikes since the beginning of the ceasefire.
Israel has argued that the ceasefire agreement stipulates Hezbollah’s complete disarmament, not only in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah disputes this, and has conditioned its disarmament on Israel’s complete withdrawal from Lebanese territory.
Israel was supposed to withdraw from Lebanon by Jan. 27 this year, with a later extension to Feb. 18.
But Israel has instead ramped up its presence in Lebanon, constructing a new base in February. Four other bases are held by Israel in Lebanon, on hilltops across the south.
The Lebanese government has raised objections to the Israeli bases with the UN, which found that two sections of Israel’s new border wall cross into Lebanese territory.
More than 64,000 Lebanese remain displaced from their homes. One resident of the now-destroyed town of Aita Al-Shaab said: “Anyone who comes to rebuild is attacked (by Israel).”
