Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists from Yemen reportedly seized a cargo ship in the Red Sea on Sunday, which comes after the terrorist group had recently threatened to target Israeli-flagged vessels in the area.
The Jerusalem Post reported that the Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader cargo ship was leased to a Japanese company from a British company that is partially owned by an Israeli businessman.
“Israel strongly condemns the Iranian attack against an international vessel,” the Israeli government said in a statement. “The ship, which is owned by a British company and is operated by a Japanese firm, was hijacked with Iran guidance by the Yemenite Houthi militia.”
The statement said that there were 25 crew members on the ship from all over the world, but none were from Israel. The 620-foot ship had left a port in Turkey and was headed to India when it was seized by the terrorists.
“This is another act of Iranian terrorism and constitutes a leap forward in Iran’s aggression against the citizens of the free world, with international consequences regarding the security of the global shipping lanes,” the statement concluded.
Earlier in the day, the Houthis said through one of their media outlets that they would “target all types of ships that carry the flag of the Zionist entity or are operated by or owned by Israeli companies, calling on all countries of the world to withdraw their citizens working on the crews of the enemy entity’s ships, and to avoid shipping on them.”
The Houthis have launched missiles and drones at Israel in the weeks following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack.
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The U.S. Navy shot down approximately two dozen drones and three cruise missiles fired by the Houthis late last month. Officials said that the USS Carney, a guided-missile destroyer, shot down the drones after they swarmed the ship. They did not disclose the munitions used to shoot down the missiles or the drones.
Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, highlighted and translated a social media post from a Houthi official published around the time news broke that the Houthis had seized the cargo vessel.
The post said: “Allah is the greatest. Death to America. Death to Israel. F*** the Jews. Victory for Islam.”
This Houthi spokesman lays it all out there for us:
“Allah is the greatest
death to America
Death to Israel
Fuck the Jews
Victory for Islam”Any questions? https://t.co/nRVrO4F59f
— Jonathan Schanzer (@JSchanzer) November 19, 2023