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The Houthis have warned they will resume attacks on international merchant ships if Israel abandons the Gaza ceasefire.
Yemen's Houthi rebels say they have freed the crew of the cargo ship Galaxy Leader, which they seized shortly after Israel's war against Gaza began in October 2023.
The Iran-linked group said in a statement on Wednesday that the 25-member crew of Filipinos, Mexicans, Romanians, Bulgarians and Ukrainians, who had spent 430 days in captivity, had been transferred to Oman on the orders of Houthi leader Abdel-Malik al- Hootie.
The group's top political council said the release came “in coordination with the Hamas movement and the mediation of the Sultanate of Oman.”
This happened “in the framework of the battle to support Gaza and in support of the ceasefire agreement,” the council said.
Galaxy Leader was kidnapped by armed Houthi fighters who descended from a helicopter and escorted him to a Yemeni port in November 2023. The Bahamian-flagged vessel is linked to Abraham “Rami” Ungar, one of Israel's richest men.
From November 2023 the Houthis launched more than 100 attacks on merchant and military ships in the Red Sea, along with some in the Mediterranean. The group said it was acting in solidarity with Palestinians against Israel's war on Gaza. The attacks sank two ships and killed at least four people.
The group also directly attacked Israel, with some projectiles passing through missile defenses or being partially intercepted. resulting in a limited number of casualties.
As a result of the Houthi attacks on shipping, the United States and the United Kingdom have launched several airstrikes against what they believe are Houthi targets in Yemen.
The Israeli army also fired several rounds major airstrikes against several Yemeni provinces since the summer, killing Houthis and civilians and targeting oil depots, ports, power plants and other critical infrastructure.
Julien Harness, UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, told a UN meeting on Tuesday that the use of the critical port of Hodeidah has been reduced to only 25 percent of its capacity due to Israeli strikes.
“(The impact of) the airstrikes on the port of Hodeidah, especially in recent weeks, is very significant,” said Harneys, adding that four of the five tugboats needed to escort large ships into the port had been sunk.
After a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas went into effect in Gaza on Sunday, the Houthis said they would limit their attacks on merchant ships to ships linked to Israel.
Al-Houthi, the group's leader, said in his first televised speech since the ceasefire that the Yemeni group remained “ready to escalate” if Israel reneges on the accord.