JERUSALEM/ADEN, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) — A cargo ship with 25 crew members on board was hijacked by Yemen’s Houthi militia within the Red Sea on Sunday, Israeli and Saudi sources reported.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed in a press release that the Houthis took management over the cargo ship close to Yemen within the southern Red Sea, including that the vessel was heading from Türkiye to India. The IDF warned that the hijacking was “a very grave incident of global consequence.”
The ship was recognized because the Galaxy Leader, a cargo ship that transports automobiles, in keeping with a report by the Saudi-based Al Arabiya TV news.
Israel’s state-owned Kan TV news reported that the ship was operated by a Japanese firm, which leased it from a British firm co-owned by Rami Ungar, an Israeli transport mogul and an importer of automobiles.
In a press release, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s workplace “strongly condemned” the hijacking, saying the ship “was hijacked at the whim of Iran by the Houthi militia in Yemen.”
According to the workplace, onboard the ship have been not less than 25 crew members of a number of nationalities, together with Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Filipinos and Mexicans. “No Israelis were present on the ship,” the assertion learn.
Earlier within the day, the Houthi group issued renewed threats to assault any Israeli ships passing by the Red Sea hall.
In a press assertion broadcasted by the group’s media shops, the Houthi armed forces declared they “will target all types of ships carrying the flag of the Zionist entity and ships operated by Israeli companies, as well as ships owned by Israeli companies.”