On November 19 a Bahamas flag vessel (the Galaxy Leader) was hijacked in the Red Sea; this was done in retaliation against Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. The perpetrators are a Yemeni Rebel group called Houthis, who have vowed to target all ships owned by Israelis or flying the Israeli flag in the Red Sea. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that out of the 25 crew members, none of them are Israeli, rather they are Bulgarians, Filipinos, Mexicans, and Ukrainians. The vessel sails under the flag of the Bahamas and is owned by a company in the Isle of Man.
A satellite image, taken Tuesday morning at 10:30 a.m. local time, shows the Galaxy Leader in the anchorage of Al-Hudaydah, Yemen. The ship arrived in the port on Monday morning.
Credit...The New York Times, Source: Planet Labs
Who are the Houthis?
The Houthi group, officially called Ansar Allah (“supporters of God”) are a politically based, Islamist armed organisation that originated from the Yemeni Government of Saada in the late 1990s. Under the leadership of Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, the group's slogan became: “God is great, death to the US, death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory to Islam ”. In late 2014, the region of Sanaa was seized by the Houthi Rebels who subsequently established control over north Yemen and other densely populated areas in the region.
Why is this hijacking symbolic?
The Houthis are part of an “Axis of Resistance” that is backed by Iran; the Houthis have shown support to the Palestinians since the Hamas attack of October 7. General Yahya Saree (military spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi rebels) has blamed Israel for the Middle East’s instability and said that the Houthis will continue to attack “until the Israeli aggression stops”. Houthi leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi has said that the militia was monitoring and will continue to monitor the Red Sea for Israeli-owned tonnage, sailing with or without Israeli flags; he further expressed that “our eyes are open to constant monitoring and searching for any Israeli ship”. Even though “The enemy relies on camouflage in its movement in the Red Sea [...] and did not dare to raise Israeli flags on its ships, […] also turning off identification devices.” Al-Houthi said his forces would “search and verify the ships that belong to him [Israel], and we will not hesitate to target them, and let everyone know that they should be afraid”.
What are the Israeli affiliations of the vessel?
Various media outlets have reported that the Ultimate Beneficial Owner of the ship is the Israeli businessman Abraham “Rami” Ungar. Mr Ungar is the owner and founder of Ray Car Carriers Ltd and one of the 100 richest people in Israel and has a net worth of about $3.2 billion, according to Forbes Israel. It is clear that given the Houthis ideology and the ownership of the vessel, the Israel-Hamas War is spreading to other sectors and countries, targeting innocent Israeli nationals in this conflict. So far it seems as though everyone on board is safe and they have been ‘welcomed’ into Yemen by the Houthis and the Commander of the Yemeni Navy. Who knows how this may escalate after the ceasefire? Nevertheless, currently, it seems to have made no difference as another two Israeli-owned vessels have been targeted via violent and drone attacks.
The Houthis consider this to be a victory for themselves considering they removed the Bahamas flag and replaced it with multiple Palestinian and Yemeni flags. Continuing in this disrespectful fashion the Houthis are seen to be dancing upon the deck of the ship and have made it a ‘tourist attraction’ with locals queuing up to take selfies from fishing boats.
Further crises
On Sunday, another Israeli-linked commercial ship (Central Park) was attacked. This attack seems once again to have been carried out by Yemen’s Houthi rebel forces, further exemplifying the heightened risk to ships sailing in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb strait. The latest attack, confirmed by US officials, was on a Commercial Tanker, which is owned and operated by Zodiac Maritime and run by the Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer. The tanker sailed from the Moroccan port of Safi and passed through the Suez Canal on 22 November. It was boarded by 8 unidentified gunmen travelling on two boats in the Gulf of Aden. Whilst the unidentified gunmen boarded the ship, the 22 crew members are believed to have retreated to the ship’s secure citadel for safety. Fortunately, at midnight (G.M.T), a U.S. Navy warship responded to the distress call from the commercial tanker and the vessel is now safe, U.S. officials declared on Sunday.