Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Yemen’s Houthi rebels said on Wednesday they would free the crew of a merchant ship, the Galaxy Leader, which they seized 14 months ago as part of their campaign to attack the Gulf. Red to support Hamas in its war against Israel.
The decision is in line with the statement made by the rebel group on Sunday, which is supported by Iran, to reduce its attacks, because of the ceasefire in Gaza that came into effect at the end of the week.
The Galaxy Leader was taken by the Houthis to the Yemeni port of Al-Hudaydah and its crew has since been held hostage. The World Cargo News website reported in November that its 25-member crew includes nationals from the Philippines, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Mexico and Romania.
Senior Houthi official Nasser Al-Din Amer said on social media that the detained crew members would be released on Wednesday. Yemeni Al-Masirah television, which is affiliated with the rebels, said the decision was ordered by the Houthi leader, Abdul-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, and was coordinated by Hamas and mediated by Oman.
It was not possible to confirm the independent publication.
The Galaxy Leader, which is designed to drive a car, sails under the flag of the Bahamas and was shown on Wednesday as “parked” in the Red Sea and not far from satellite navigation, according to MarineTraffic. a ship tracking app and website that provides real-time information about ships around the world.
The seizure of the ship, which was traveling to India from Turkey, was one of the Houthis’ most aggressive maritime actions and came at the start of their campaign in support of Hamas, which attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering the Gaza war.
At the time, the Houthis threatened to target Israeli-flagged, Israeli-owned and operated ships sailing through the Red Sea. After the arrest of the Galaxy Leader, a Houthi spokesman announced that the kidnapping was a show of support for the “oppressed Palestinian people”.
While Israel’s military said there were no Israelis on board the Galaxy Leader, it turns out that an Israeli billionaire, Rami Ungar, once owned the company that owns the ship, according to Paradise Papers, the spread of confidential documents that. in 2017 revealed a hidden world of wealth and possessions. A beneficial owner of a company is a person who controls it, owns more than a quarter of it or derives a significant economic benefit from it.
Houthi operations against Israel have disrupted maritime traffic on one of the world’s largest shipping lines, forcing many ships to make longer trips around the Cape of Good Hope at its southern tip. Africa.
In recent months, the group has also launched a series of rocket attacks into Israel. Most of the rockets were intercepted before they reached Israeli territory, but Israel’s military responded with airstrikes against rebel-linked targets in Yemen.
The spokesman for the Houthis, Mohammed Abdulsalam, said on social media on Sunday that supporting the Palestinian cause will be a priority even after the ceasefire. The Houthis said they would stop targeting all ships “once all steps have been fully completed” in the ceasefire agreement. But they said they would continue to target ships owned by private Israeli companies or entities or sailing under the Israeli flag.
But in an email on Sunday and sent by a Houthi-linked group linked to the shipping industry, the Houthis warned that if the US or Britain directly attacked Yemen, they would continue their attacks on ships connected with these countries.
