Yemen's Houthis They Targeted Ship in Red Sea With a Ballistic Missile
Yemen's Houthi،s fired a ballistic missile Thursday at a Liberian-flagged container ship in the Red Sea, U.S. defense officials said. The attack happened west of Al-Hudaydah. The U.S. defense officials identified the targeted container ship as the Koi, a Bermuda-owned vessel. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters. The private security firm Ambrey reported Wednesday night that a ship was targeted with a missile southwest of Aden, Yemen, near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Since November, the Houthis have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea over Israel’s offensive in Gaza against Hamas. But they have frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, imperiling shipping in a key route for global trade between Asia, the Mideast and Europe. Late Wednesday, American F/A-18 fighter jets struck and destroyed 10 Houthi drones that were prepared to launch, as well as a ground control station used by the Houthis, the U.S. military said.
The Houthi leader has affirmed the group's commitment to targeting Israeli or affiliated ships in the Red Sea. Abdulmalik al-Houthi stated in a speech today that his group carried out ten military operations during the past week in the Red Sea and the Bab el Mandeb Strait, targeting ships associated with the Israeli, American, and British forces He explained that there is "precise aerial and maritime monitoring" by his group to obtain the necessary information to know the ship's destination to any Palestinian port, and "there is strong readiness to target any ship heading for the Israeli enemy." al-Houthi added that the United States and Britain have put themselves in a dilemma after their attacks on Yemen, saying that these two countries cannot even protect their ships in the Red Sea.
On Thursday, the Houthi group launched a ballistic missile from the governorate of Ibb towards the Red Sea. Local sources reported that the Houthi group fired a ballistic missile from the Al-Hamzah camp southeast of the city of Ibb. The sources added that residents heard a loud sound coinciding with the missile launch, which was seen in the sky of Ibb heading towards the Red Sea. In the same context, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported an incident 57 nautical miles west of Al-Hudaydah.
South Africa’s foreign minister alleged Israel is ignoring the ruling by the United Nations’ top court last week, which ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, by killing hundreds more civilians in a matter of days in Gaza. Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 150 people were killed and an additional 313 wounded as Israeli forces continued to battle militants Wednesday in the northern part of the territory, the initial target of Israel’s ground offensive into the Gaza Strip that has seen entire neighborhoods flattened. Israel’s military said its forces killed more than 15 Hamas fighters in northern Gaza in the past day and targeted militant infrastructure in a school. The latest deaths bring the Palestinian death toll from Israel’s offensive to 26,900, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry. It does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths but says most of those killed were women and children.
