Yemen’s Houthis Announce ‘Maritime Blockade’ on Israel’s Haifa Port 

The interception of a missile, that the Israeli military said to have been fired from Yemen, is seen from the city of Ashkelon, Israel, May 18, 2025. (Reuters)
The interception of a missile, that the Israeli military said to have been fired from Yemen, is seen from the city of Ashkelon, Israel, May 18, 2025. (Reuters)
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Yemen’s Houthis Announce ‘Maritime Blockade’ on Israel’s Haifa Port 

The interception of a missile, that the Israeli military said to have been fired from Yemen, is seen from the city of Ashkelon, Israel, May 18, 2025. (Reuters)
The interception of a missile, that the Israeli military said to have been fired from Yemen, is seen from the city of Ashkelon, Israel, May 18, 2025. (Reuters)

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis announced on Monday what they called a "maritime blockade" on Israel's Haifa port in response to Israel's ongoing conflict in Gaza.

"All companies with ships present in or heading to this port are hereby notified that, as of the time of this announcement, the aforementioned port has been included in the list of targets," the group's spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a televised address.

The Houthis have continued to fire missiles at Israel including on Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, although they have agreed to halt attacks on US ships.

The missiles launched by the group on Israel were mostly intercepted.

Israel has carried out strikes in response, including one on May 6 that damaged Yemen's main airport in Sanaa and killed several people.



UKMTO: Ship Attacked in Red Sea off Yemen with Gunfire, Rocket-propelled Grenades

File Photo - 27 January 2024, Yemen, Gulf of Aden: The Marlin Luanda vessel on fire in the Gulf of Aden after it was reportedly struck by an anti-ship missile fired from a Houthi controlled area of Yemen. Photo: Indian Navy via ZUMA Wire/dpa
File Photo - 27 January 2024, Yemen, Gulf of Aden: The Marlin Luanda vessel on fire in the Gulf of Aden after it was reportedly struck by an anti-ship missile fired from a Houthi controlled area of Yemen. Photo: Indian Navy via ZUMA Wire/dpa
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UKMTO: Ship Attacked in Red Sea off Yemen with Gunfire, Rocket-propelled Grenades

File Photo - 27 January 2024, Yemen, Gulf of Aden: The Marlin Luanda vessel on fire in the Gulf of Aden after it was reportedly struck by an anti-ship missile fired from a Houthi controlled area of Yemen. Photo: Indian Navy via ZUMA Wire/dpa
File Photo - 27 January 2024, Yemen, Gulf of Aden: The Marlin Luanda vessel on fire in the Gulf of Aden after it was reportedly struck by an anti-ship missile fired from a Houthi controlled area of Yemen. Photo: Indian Navy via ZUMA Wire/dpa

A ship came under attack Sunday in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen by armed men firing guns and launching rocket-propelled grenades, a group overseen by the British military said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes as tensions remain high in the Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war and after the Iran-Israel war and airstrikes by the United States targeting Iranian nuclear sites.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center (UKMTO) said that an armed security team on the ship had returned fire and that the “situation is ongoing.”

“Authorities are investigating,” it said, The AP news reported.

Yemen's Houthi have been launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group’s leadership has described as an effort to end Israel’s offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Between November 2023 and January 2025, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually.

The Houthis paused attacks in a self-imposed ceasefire until the US launched a broad assault against them in mid-March. That ended weeks later and the Houthis haven't attacked a vessel, though they have continued occasional missile attacks targeting Israel.