Yemen's Houthis release crew of Galaxy Leader vessel to support Israel-Hamas ceasefire

Sanaa, Jan 22 Yemen's Houthi group on Wednesday said it had released the crew of Galaxy Leader vessel to support the Gaza ceasefire agreement reached between Hamas and Israel, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported.

"Based on the directives of leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi, the crew of the vessel, Galaxy Leader, was released today (Wednesday) in coordination with the Hamas movement and the mediation of the Sultanate of Oman," said the Houthi television.

"The crew of the Galaxy Leader vessel was handed over to our brothers in the Sultanate of Oman in coordination with Hamas as part of the ceasefire arrangements," it added.

The Houthi Supreme Political Council said in a statement that the seizure of the vessel on November 19, 2023, and the arrest of its crew were "part of the battle to support Hamas in its fighting against Israel in Gaza."

Neither the Houthi statement nor the Houthi television mentioned when the commercial vessel would be freed.

On November 19, 2023, the Houthi fighters, flying on a military helicopter, landed on the deck of the Galaxy Leader while it was sailing in the international waters off Yemen's Houthi-held Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

The Houthi fighters broke the doors of the vessel's control room, took the vessel's 25 crew members hostages, and forced the vessel to Hodeidah.

The Houthi rebel group has been controlling much of northern Yemen, including Hodeidah, since late 2014 after the civil war broke out in Yemen, forcing the internationally-recognized Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa.

Since mid-November 2023, the Houthi group has been launching rocket and drone attacks against Israel and disrupting "Israeli-linked" shipping in the Red Sea to show solidarity with Palestinians amid their war with Israel in Gaza.

The Houthi group stopped its attacks against Israeli cities on January 19, when the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement went into effect, Xinhua news agency reported.

However, the Houthi group reportedly said in an email to shipping companies on Jan. 19 that it "will continue to launch rocket attacks" against any ship linked to Israel, carrying goods to Israel, or raising the flag of Israel, in the Red Sea.

In the message, the Houthi group also threatened the Western shipping companies that any air strike by the United States, Britain, or any European countries against the group in northern Yemen, would be responded to by targeting that country's commercial ships in the Red Sea.

According to a recent televised report by the group's al-Masirah TV, the Houthi group has launched attacks against more than 100 commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November 2023, including two vessels sunk in the Red Sea, off Hodeidah.

The Houthi attacks forced international shipping companies to change routes to the southern tip of Africa to escape rocket and drone strikes, leading to significant drop in revenues for the Egypt-run Suez Canal.