Attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthi Army in Yemen are increasing. Houthi Army Spokesperson Yahya Sarea announced this evening (Thursday) that the Houthis take responsibility for attacking the Maersk Gibraltar in the Red Sea, which was en route to Israel. According to them, they attacked the ship with a drone after it refused to answer their call: “The strike was carried out after the ship did not heed the calls of the Yemenite Army.”
This morning, the Houthis were also reported to have forced a container ship heading to Israel via the Red Sea to change course and move to a port in Yemen. This is an escalation of the naval threat from Yemen, after the organization announced it would not allow ships to reach Israel through the Red Sea.