By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Yemen’s Armed Forces have announced that they would target all vessels associated with Israel in the Red Sea, until Israel puts an end to its genocide in Gaza.

An Israeli-owned ship was targeted in the Indian Ocean on Friday in a suspected drone attack, the Associated Press (AP) said on Saturday, citing a US defense official who remains anonymous.

Friday’s attack on the vessel CMA CGM Symi, which comes amid increasing threats to regional shipping routes during Israel’s war on Gaza, occurred in international waters, AP reported. 

The strike was conducted shortly before Friday’s start of the four-day ceasefire, according to the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen news network.

“The attack is likely to have been targeted due to the vessel’s Israeli affiliation through (Israeli-owned shipping management company) Eastern Pacific Shipping,” risk management company Ambrey told AP.

Yemeni Armed Forces Seize Israeli Ship in Red Sea – Al-Mayadeen

The Symi is owned by the Singapore-headquartered Eastern Pacific Shipping, belonging to the Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer. 

In 2011, the UK newspaper The Sunday Times reported that ships owned by the Ofer family had allegedly been used to transport elite Israeli special forces units to conduct operations, including assassinations, in the region.

On Saturday, the Jewish Press news outlet cited the Israeli army as saying that the Houthis had seized another Israeli-owned ship in the Red Sea, the Zim Luanda, sailing from Israel to China. 

The report came after Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea published a one-word post on X, simply reading “Zim”.

ZIM

— العميد يحيى سريع (@army21ye) November 25, 2023

On November 19, the Yemeni Naval Forces, affiliated with the Houthi Resistance movement, boarded and seized an Israeli-owned ship, the Bahamas-flagged Galaxy leader.

Earlier on that day, Yemen’s Armed Forces had announced that they would target all vessels associated with Israel in the Red Sea, until Israel puts an end to its genocide in Gaza.

(PC, RT)