Yemen’s Houthis to Limit Attacks on Israeli Ships During Gaza Truce

The Houthi group has been targeting an international shipping line in the Red Sea in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Tue Jan 21 2025
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SANAA, Yemen: Yemen’s Houthi group on Tuesday said it would limit its Red Sea attacks to ships linked to Israel during the ceasefire in the Gaza war.

The group has been targeting an international shipping line in the vital waterway which it says is to show solidarity with the Palestinians since November 2023, weeks after the war between Israel and Hamas started in Gaza.

“We have informed international shipping companies that our military operations will focus solely on vessels linked to” Israel during the truce, a Houthi official told AFP on condition of anonymity. The Houthis have also repeatedly launched missile and drone attacks on Israel.

Among the vessels targeted in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden were ones the Yemeni group believed were linked to Israel, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Their campaign has affected trade routes, prompting the United States and its allies to launch strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.

According to a Houthi official, the movement would stop its attacks against Israeli-linked vessels once every phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was implemented.

As the ceasefire took effect on Sunday thousands of displaced, war-weary Palestinians set off across the devastated Gaza Strip to return to ruined homes.

ALSO READ: Yemen’s Houthis Strike US Aircraft Carrier in Red Sea

The truce brokered by Qatari, US, and Egyptian mediators is meant to enable a surge of sorely needed humanitarian aid into Gaza, as a total of 33 Israeli hostages are to be released in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians in Israeli custody.

Gaza’s health ministry said that since October 7, 2023, at least 46,913 Palestinians, mostly women, and children have been killed in Gaza in the Israeli bombardment campaign in response to Hamas’s attack on Israel.

On Sunday, the Houthis claimed an attack on an American aircraft carrier and warned of serious consequences for any retaliation during the Gaza ceasefire. The US military, however, dismissed the attack claims.

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