ATHENS: Maritime security officials said on Thursday they were expecting Yemen’s Houthi militia to announce a halt in attacks on ships in the Red Sea, after a ceasefire deal in the war in Gaza between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
The experts pointed to an email, seen by Reuters, from the group postponing a planned security briefing that had been due to take place in the coming days as a possible signal.
The Houthis’ leader, Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, is also due to give a speech later on Thursday, as he does most weeks, and speculation has mounted in the region that he may use the occasion to announce a pause off the back of the Gaza deal.
The Houthi group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The group has carried out more than 100 attacks on ships crossing the Red Sea since November 2023, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. They have sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least four seafarers.
The attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa for more than a year.
“British, American and Israeli strikes have succeeded in significantly limiting the attacks by Houthis, who are looking for a pretext to announce a ceasefire,” Dimitris Maniatis, the chief executive officer of maritime security company Marisks told Reuters regarding the briefing postponement.
Another maritime security official said that an announcement was largely expected and there were indications that some companies were preparing to resume Red Sea journeys but it was still too early to say that traffic would be restored.
“The first sign that business returns to normal will be seen in the insurance market, as insurance fees will start decreasing,” the official said.
A second maritime official, who also asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said that a halt in attacks was widely expected but was not able to confirm it.
In the email seen by Reuters, the Houthis said that the security webinar, aimed at shipping and maritime companies and the first such invitation they had issued, had been postponed to Feb. 10 due to the large number of questions and suggestions received from participants.
“This will ensure that the event is more comprehensive and beneficial for all attendees,” they said in the email on Wednesday.
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Maritime sources expect Houthis to halt Red Sea attacks after Gaza deal
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Maritime sources expect Houthis to halt Red Sea attacks after Gaza deal
- The group has carried out more than 100 attacks on ships crossing the Red Sea
- The attacks have disrupted global shipping
Syria gunman who killed Americans was to be fired from security forces for ‘extremism’: ministry
DAMASCUS: Syria’s interior ministry said on Sunday that the gunman who killed three Americans in the central Palmyra region the previous day was a member of the security forces who was to have been fired for extremism.
Two US troops and a civilian interpreter died in the attack on Saturday, which the US Central Command said had been carried out by an alleged Daesh group (IS) militant who was then killed.
The Syrian authorities “had decided to fire him” from the security forces before the attack for holding “extremist Islamist ideas” and had planned to do so on Sunday, interior ministry spokesman Noureddine Al-Baba told state television.
A Syrian security official told AFP on Sunday that “11 members of the general security forces were arrested and brought in for questioning after the attack.”
The official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the gunman had belonged to the security forces “for more than 10 months and was posted to several cities before being transferred to Palmyra.”
Palmyra, home to UNESCO-listed ancient ruins, was once controlled by IS during the height of its territorial expansion in Syria.
The incident is the first of its kind reported since Islamist-led forces overthrew longtime Syrian ruler Bashar Assad in December last year, and rekindled the country’s ties with the United States.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the soldiers “were conducting a key leader engagement” in support of counter-terrorism operations when the attack occurred, while US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said the ambush targeted “a joint US-Syrian government patrol.”
US President Donald Trump called the incident “an Daesh attack against the US, and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them,” using another term for the group.
He said the three other US troops injured in the attack were “doing well.”
Two US troops and a civilian interpreter died in the attack on Saturday, which the US Central Command said had been carried out by an alleged Daesh group (IS) militant who was then killed.
The Syrian authorities “had decided to fire him” from the security forces before the attack for holding “extremist Islamist ideas” and had planned to do so on Sunday, interior ministry spokesman Noureddine Al-Baba told state television.
A Syrian security official told AFP on Sunday that “11 members of the general security forces were arrested and brought in for questioning after the attack.”
The official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the gunman had belonged to the security forces “for more than 10 months and was posted to several cities before being transferred to Palmyra.”
Palmyra, home to UNESCO-listed ancient ruins, was once controlled by IS during the height of its territorial expansion in Syria.
The incident is the first of its kind reported since Islamist-led forces overthrew longtime Syrian ruler Bashar Assad in December last year, and rekindled the country’s ties with the United States.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the soldiers “were conducting a key leader engagement” in support of counter-terrorism operations when the attack occurred, while US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said the ambush targeted “a joint US-Syrian government patrol.”
US President Donald Trump called the incident “an Daesh attack against the US, and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them,” using another term for the group.
He said the three other US troops injured in the attack were “doing well.”
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