Houthis attack ship in Red Sea for first time since Trump announced a truce

Mint

11 hours ago

TEL AVIV—A crew in the Red Sea was forced to abandon ship after it was hit by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Sunday, the first attack of its kind since President Trump announced a truce in May after he said the group promised to stop attacking Middle Eastern waterways.
The Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier Magic Seas had taken on water after being hit by gunfire with small arms and self-propelled grenades near the Houthi-controlled port city of Hodeidah in the Red Sea, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a British Navy task force that monitors shipping in the Middle East.
The Houthis said they targeted the Magic Seas because it belonged to a company that 'violated the entry ban to the ports of occupied Palestine."
Early on Monday, Israel's military said it carried out airstrikes on Yemen following several ballistic-missile attacks by the Houthi rebel group in recent days.
Israel used around 20 jet fighters and dropped over 50 munitions during the attack, which targeted the ports of Al Hudaydah, Ras Isa and Salif as well as the Ras Kanatib power plant, the military said. It said the ports are used to transfer Iranian weapons and the power plant is used for the Houthi's military needs. Israel's military warned locals to evacuate those areas shortly before striking them.
The military said it also struck the Galaxy Leader, a commercial vessel Israel said was taken by the Houthis in November 2023. The Houthis had installed a radar system aboard the ship to track other vessels in the busy Red Sea maritime traffic routes, according to the military.
After the Israeli attacks, the Houthis said they responded by firing one ballistic missile at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, one at Ashdod port and one at a power station in Ashkelon, plus 11 drones at Israel's Red-Sea port city Eilat.
Israel's attack was the first against Houthi-held parts of Yemen since the 12-day war between Iran and Israel ended late in June. Israel and the U.S. say Iran funds, arms and guides the Houthis. Iranian officials have voiced support for the Houthi cause but deny U.S. allegations that Tehran funds and arms them.
The Houthis say their attacks are in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
In May, President Trump announced the U.S. would halt its military campaign against the Houthis in return for the militants halting their missile and drone attacks on shipping that snarled international shipping lanes.
Israel was left out of the deal and the Iran-backed group has continued to attack Israel with ballistic missiles and drones. The Houthis have fired dozens of ballistic missiles at Israel since the start of Israel's war against Hamas in 2023, hampering Israeli attempts to renew air traffic to prewar levels.
The Houhtis said they repelled Israel's attack on Monday, while residents described the strikes as the heaviest since Israel targeted oil facilities in Hodeidah last July. Plumes of smoke were seen rising from the targeted sites, locals said.
It wasn't clear whether the missiles fired from Yemen on Monday hit any of their targets. There were no reports of damage, but the Israeli military didn't report intercepting the missiles either. The military didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Israeli airstrikes on Monday followed two recent ballistic-missile attacks by the Houthis—one on Sunday and another one last week. No casualties were reported from those attacks.