Yemen: Houthi Seizure of Galaxy Leader Is Iranian Terrorism by Proxy

A grab from footage released by Yemen's Huoutj Media Center on November 19, 2023, reportedly shows members of the militias during the capture of an Israel-linked cargo vessel at an undefined location in the Red Sea. (Houthi media/AFP)
A grab from footage released by Yemen's Huoutj Media Center on November 19, 2023, reportedly shows members of the militias during the capture of an Israel-linked cargo vessel at an undefined location in the Red Sea. (Houthi media/AFP)
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Yemen: Houthi Seizure of Galaxy Leader Is Iranian Terrorism by Proxy

A grab from footage released by Yemen's Huoutj Media Center on November 19, 2023, reportedly shows members of the militias during the capture of an Israel-linked cargo vessel at an undefined location in the Red Sea. (Houthi media/AFP)
A grab from footage released by Yemen's Huoutj Media Center on November 19, 2023, reportedly shows members of the militias during the capture of an Israel-linked cargo vessel at an undefined location in the Red Sea. (Houthi media/AFP)

The Delegation of the European Union in Yemen condemned on Tuesday the Iran-backed Houthi militias’ seizure of the Galaxy Leader cargo ship on Sunday.

In a statement, it expressed its "strong condemnation of the seizure by the Houthis of the Galaxy Leader in the southern Red Sea."

"Threats to international navigation and maritime security are unacceptable," it added, calling for the immediate release of the ship and its crew.

EU citizens are among the crew, it noted.

The Houthis, who have been sending drones and long-range missiles at Israel in solidarity with Hamas, seized the Galaxy Leader cargo ship on Sunday in the southern Red Sea, describing it as Israeli-owned.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby described on Tuesday the Houthis' seizure as a "flagrant violation of international law" in which "Iran is complicit."

The Bahamas-flagged car carrier is chartered by Japan's Nippon Yusen. It is owned by a firm registered under Isle of Man-headquartered Ray Car Carriers, which is a unit of Tel Aviv-incorporated Ray Shipping, according to LSEG data.

Iran has denied involvement in the seizure of the ship, which the car carrier's owner on Monday said was taken to the Houthi-controlled southern Yemen port of Hodeidah.

The legitimate Yemeni government condemned the incident, saying it was "Iranian terrorism by proxy".

In an official statement on Tuesday, it expressed its "complete rejection of marine piracy in Yemen’s regional waters that is carried out by the Houthis with the full support of the Iranian regime."

The incident "poses a serious threat to marine navigation and international peace and security," it added.

Moreover, it warned that the "Houthis’ terrorist acts by proxy will only deepen the humanitarian crisis endured by the Yemeni people and compound economic burdens."

It warned that such Houthi attacks will "serve the interests of foreign powers, including transforming the regional waters into an arena for conflict," adding that it would also serve Israel’s expansionist ambitions and embolden armed groups in the region.

The government stressed that the Houthi attacks are a "natural result of the international community’s failure in deterring these militias that have for years carried out dozens of attacks at sea against cargo vessels, oil installations, national interests and civilian areas in neighboring countries."

It called on the countries that overlook the Red Sea to act immediately to confront "Iranian meddling with the security of the region and the freedom of international navigation in one of the world’s most important trade routes."



Israeli Forces Seen Building Positions in Gaza as They Take More Ground

 Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP)
Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP)
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Israeli Forces Seen Building Positions in Gaza as They Take More Ground

 Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP)
Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP)

Israeli troops could be seen clearing ground and building watch towers on Monday in parts of Gaza they have seized in recent days in a renewed offensive that the United Nations says has already captured or depopulated two-thirds of the enclave.

The army has issued repeated evacuation warnings to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in southern, central and northern areas since it resumed operations in Gaza on March 18, forcing them into a diminishing space limited by the sea.

Zakia Sami, 60, a mother of six from Gaza City, said she could see tanks occupying the high ground as she fled her home after the army ordered the family out of the eastern suburb of Shejaia.

"They have taken over the Al-Muntar hilltop where we used to go to play with our kids. Now they are stationed there and they can hit any house they want inside Shejaia,” she told Reuters via a chat app.

"Gaza has always been a small place and the Israelis are making it smaller and smaller every day. We are being strangled with no food and with bombs falling on us."

According to the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA, the total area seized by Israel or placed under evacuation orders now covers 65% of the Gaza Strip. In Rafah alone, 140,000 people have been displaced over the past two weeks, according to the International Rescue Committee aid group.

A Palestinian journalist was killed on Monday and nine others were wounded, some critically, when an Israeli air strike hit a tent used by media inside the compound of the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

People tried to douse flames in the tent in the early hours of Monday. Images were shared online showing a journalist in flames and another person trying to rescue him.

The Israeli military said it had struck Hassan Aslih, a Gaza-based reporter with hundreds of thousands of social media followers, whom it described as a Hamas member and "terrorist who operates under the guise of a journalist". Medics said Aslih was critically wounded.

Israel announced plans last week to seize a "security zone" around the edges of the Gaza Strip, a month after a ceasefire expired. It has not said what its long-term plan is for the recaptured territory, but Palestinians fear it aims to occupy it permanently.

Residents said there were increasing signs the military was digging in for an extended stay, building watchtowers in Shejaia in the north and around the former Israeli settlement of Morag, between the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah in the south.

Footage circulating on social media showed a large crane protected by machine guns and security cameras near Morag as well as earthmoving equipment at work near Shejaia.

Overnight the army issued evacuation warnings to several districts in Deir al-Balah and Zawayda in the central Gaza Strip, areas that have sheltered hundreds of thousands.

In Deir al-Balah, residents carried a wounded man in a blanket out of the rubble of a house that had been destroyed in an Israeli strike.

"There are still martyrs under the rubble. Our neighbors are martyrs," said Imad Hassan, a neighbor, who blamed US President Donald Trump for encouraging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to restart the Israeli campaign.

A report issued on Monday by the rights group Breaking The Silence quoted soldiers describing demolishing buildings and farmland to create the buffer zone.

WHERE DO WE GO?

"Where do we go? The question is of over two million people now. They are squeezing us," said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman, sheltering in Deir Al-Balah.

A ceasefire reached in January expired in March. Israel has said that its campaign in Gaza will continue until the remaining 59 hostages still held by Hamas and other armed groups are returned. Hamas says it will not free them without a deal that would bring a permanent end to the war.

Trump has spoken of removing the population of Gaza and turning the territory into a resort controlled by the United States. Israel has said it supports that plan and would encourage Palestinians to leave voluntarily.

The Hamas-run government media office said Israel's seizure of Rafah, a 60 square kilometer zone with a prewar population of around 300,000, showed its goal was "to empty the land of its people and erase its geographic and demographic identity".

The Israeli offensive in Gaza was launched after Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel has so far killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities.