Houthis warn German ships over Red Sea as vessel reports nearby missile strike

A drone is displayed in an exhibition held by the Houthis to mark the 'Martyrs Week' in Sanaa, Yemen, on Nove. 17, 2024. (REUTERS)
Short Url
Updated 18 November 2024
Follow

Houthis warn German ships over Red Sea as vessel reports nearby missile strike

  • A ship’s captain saw that “a missile splashed in close proximity to the vessel” as it traveled near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, UKMTO reports
  • The Houthis theartened to hit vessels of German shipping firms passing near the Red Sea or using Israeli ports

DUBAI: A vessel 60 nautical miles southeast of Yemen's Aden reported on Monday a missile splashing into the sea in its close proximity, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said.
UKMTO added that the vessel and its crew were safe.
The same vessel was passing through the Red Sea 25 nautical miles west of Yemen's Mokha on Sunday when it reported a missile splashing into the sea nearby, UKMTO said.
The attack comes as the Houthis 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 Gaza and Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, the Houthis theartened to hit vessels of German shipping firms passing near the Red Sea or using Israeli ports, the German shipowners’ association VDR said Monday.
The emailed warnings sent to the German industry body and cargo carriers in recent months were “attempts at intimidation,” VDR executive Irina Haesler said.
The threats were “directed against ships that call at Israeli ports, as well as against those that pass through the Red Sea, the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean,” the association said.
“Regardless of their location, ships with supposed links to Israel are considered potential targets,” it said.
One such email from the Houthis, seen by AFP, warned German shipowners of “a naval blockade on the Israeli enemy.”
It said “all vessels belonging to it, associated with it or bound for it” would be “subject to punishment and ... prohibited from crossing the area of operations of the Yemeni Armed Forces.”
A VDR spokeswoman told AFP the authenticity of the emails had been confirmed by the German navy and International Chamber of Shipping.
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 militia 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.
In the Houthi's last attack on Nov. 11, two US Navy warships targeted with multiple drones and missiles as they were traveling through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but the attacks were not successful.


Hoping for better year ahead, Gazans bid farewell to ‘nightmare’

Updated 20 sec ago
Follow

Hoping for better year ahead, Gazans bid farewell to ‘nightmare’

  • Humanitarian agencies have warned that shortages of food, clean water and medical supplies persist, while winter conditions are worsening life in overcrowded camps

GAZA CITY: As 2025 draws to a close, Palestinians in Gaza are marking the new year not with celebration, but with exhaustion, grief and a fragile hope that their “endless nightmare” might finally end.

For residents of the battered territory, daily life is a struggle for survival.

Much of Gaza’s infrastructure lies in ruins, electricity remains scarce and hundreds of thousands of people live in makeshift tents after being repeatedly displaced by the two years of fighting that began with Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023.

“We in the Gaza Strip are living in an endless nightmare,” said Hanaa Abu Amra, a displaced woman in her thirties living in Gaza City. “We hope that this nightmare will end in 2026 ... The least we can ask for is a normal life — to see electricity restored, the streets return to normal and to walk without tents lining the roads,” she said.

Across Gaza, a territory of more than 2 million people, scenes of hardship are commonplace.

The outgoing year brought relentless loss and fear, said Shireen Al-Kayali.

“We bid farewell to 2025 with deep sorrow and grief,” she said.

“We lost a lot of people and our possessions. We lived a difficult and harsh life, displaced from one city to another, under bombardment and in terror.”

Her experience reflects that of countless Gazans who have been forced to flee repeatedly, often with little warning, taking with them only what they could carry.

Entire families have been uprooted, livelihoods destroyed, and communities fragmented as the war dragged on for two years.

Despite the devastation, some residents cling to the belief that the new year might bring an end to the fighting and a chance to rebuild.

For many Gazans, hope has become an act of resilience, particularly after the truce that came into effect on October 10 and has largely halted the fighting.

“We still hope for a better life in the new year, and I call on the free world to help our oppressed people so we can regain our lives,” said Khaled Abdel Majid, 50, who lives in a tent in Jabalia camp.

Faten Al-Hindawi hoped the truce would finally end the war.

“We will bid farewell to 2025, leaving behind its pain, and we hope that 2026 will be a year of hope, prayer, determination and success stories.”