DUBAI: Yemen’s Houthi militants said Monday they launched a missile at an oil tanker off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, potentially renewing their attacks targeting shipping through the crucial global waterway.
Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for the launch in a prerecorded message aired on Al-Masirah, a Houthi-controlled satellite news channel. He alleged the vessel, the Liberian-flagged Scarlet Ray, had ties to Israel.
The ship’s owners, Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping, could not be immediately reached. However, the maritime security firm Ambrey described the ship as fitting the Houthis’ “target profile, as the vessel is publicly Israeli owned.”
Eastern Pacific is a company that is ultimately controlled by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer. Eastern Pacific previously has been targeted in suspected Iranian attacks.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, which monitors Mideast shipping, earlier reported a ship heard a splash and a bang off its side near Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.
From November 2023 to December 2024, the Houthis targeted more than 100 ships with missiles and drones over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. In their campaign so far, the Houthis have sank four vessels and killed at least eight mariners.
The Iranian-backed Houthis stopped their attacks during a brief ceasefire in the war. They later became the target of an intense weekslong campaign of airstrikes ordered by US President Donald Trump before he declared a ceasefire had been reached with the rebels. The Houthis sank two vessels in July, killing at least four on board with others believed to be held by the rebels.
The Houthis’ new attacks come as a new possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war remains in the balance. Meanwhile, the future of talks between the US and Iran over Tehran’s battered nuclear program is in question after Israel launched a 12-day war against the Islamic Republic in which the Americans bomb three Iranian atomic sites.
Israel just launched a series of airstrikes last week, killing the Houthis’ prime minister and several Cabinet members. The Houthis’ attack on the ship appears to be their response, as well as their raids on the offices of the United Nations’ food, health and children’s agencies in Yemen’s capital Sunday in which at least 11 UN employees detained.
Yemen’s Houthis launch missile that lands near oil tanker in Red Sea
https://arab.news/8c34a
Yemen’s Houthis launch missile that lands near oil tanker in Red Sea
- Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for the launch
- He alleged the vessel, the Liberian-flagged Scarlet Ray, had ties to Israel
Israel blocks a Canadian delegation from visiting the occupied West Bank
- The Israeli statement said The Canadian-Muslim Vote receives the vast majority of its funding from Islamic Relief Canada, a subsidiary of Islamic Relief Worldwide that is listed as a terror entity by Israel
OTTAWA, Ontario: Israel on Tuesday blocked a private Canadian delegation that included six members of Parliament from entering the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli Embassy in Canada said the group was denied entry because of its links to Islamic Relief Worldwide, a nongovernmental organization that Israel lists as a terror group.
Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand said in a post on social media that Canada has expressed its “objections regarding the mistreatment of these Canadians.”
Ontario Member of Parliament Iqra Khalid, from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal party, said she was part of the delegation and was shoved several times by Israeli border officials.
She said she was pushed after trying to check on a member of the roughly 30-person delegation who was pulled aside for additional questioning after the group had been at the Allenby border crossing between Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Khalid said the border officials were able to see she was a lawmaker as they had taken her special passport, which looks different from a standard Canadian document.
The Israeli Embassy statement said Israel “will not allow the entry of organizations and individuals who are associated with designated terror entities.”
The delegation, sponsored by the group The Canadian-Muslim Vote, had planned to meet with displaced Palestinians in the West Bank, where the Israeli government recently approved the construction of 764 new homes in Jewish settlements.
The Israeli statement said The Canadian-Muslim Vote receives the vast majority of its funding from Islamic Relief Canada, a subsidiary of Islamic Relief Worldwide that is listed as a terror entity by Israel.
In Ottawa, the National Council of Canadian Muslims said the Israeli government’s refusal to allow Canadian parliamentarians into the country raises serious concerns about transparency and accountability.
British Columbia New Democrat Member of Parliament Jenny Kwan said the entire delegation had electronic travel authorizations to enter the West Bank but they were revoked “on the day of our arrival.”
In September, Canada joined several other countries in recognizing a Palestinian state, a significant shift in its policy and a move that came despite opposition from the United States. At the time, Canada said it hopes the recognition paves the way for peace based on two states living side by side.
