Yemen Armed Forces Target Another Cargo Ship En Route to Israeli Ports

By Al Mayadeen English

14 Dec 2023 23:16

The Yemeni Armed Forces say the Maersk Gibraltar's crew refused to respond to the warnings of the Yemeni Naval Forces.

The Yemeni Armed Forces announced on Thursday that their Naval forces carried out a military operation against the Maersk Gibraltar cargo ship, which was en route to the Israeli occupation entity.

In a statement, the Yemeni Armed Forces confirmed that the ship was targeted with a drone, adding that a direct hit was confirmed after the Maersk Gibraltar's crew refused to respond to warning calls from the Yemeni Naval Forces.

According to the statement, the Yemeni Armed Forces succeeded in prohibiting the passage of several ships heading to the Israeli occupation entity in the past 48 hours.

Elsewhere, the Yemeni military underlined that its forces will continue preventing all ships heading to Israeli occupation ports from navigating in the Arabian and Red Seas until the entry of needed food and medicine to the Palestinian people in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Earlier on Thursday, a US official said that Yemeni forces fired a missile at the Maersk Gibraltar cargo ship.

"The crew and vessel is reported safe," Danish shipping giant Maersk said in a statement.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) also reported that it "received a report of an entity declaring itself to be the Yemeni Navy, ordering a vessel to alter course to Yemen."

On Wednesday, Ansar Allah Political Bureau member Abdul-Malik al-Ajri stressed that there is no way to restore calm in the Red Sea without a ceasefire in Gaza.

"There is no way of preventing the escalation except by moving towards a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip," al-Ajri said in a post on X.

The top Yemeni official made it clear that peace in the Red Sea was "linked to restoring calm in the Gaza Strip," clearly talking about a ceasefire as the Israeli occupation continues to escalate against the Strip's civilian population.

He also stressed that even if all the naval fleets on Earth gathered in the Red Sea, they "would not bring security to Israel or Israeli ships, not to any ships heading to [Israel]."

The Israeli so-called "National Security Council" urgently directed ports to eliminate details about ship arrivals and departures from their websites, as reported by Globes.

A couple of days ago, the Yemeni Naval Forces targeted the Norwegian-flagged Strinda ship, which was loaded with oil and headed to the ports of the Israeli occupation, according to the spokesperson of the Yemeni Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Saree.

The Yemeni Armed Forces affirmed their continued prevention of ships of all nationalities heading to Israeli ports from navigating in the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea until the blockade on the Gaza Strip is lifted.

Later, a member of the Supreme Political Council in Yemen, Mohammad Ali al-Houthi, advised to "avoid risks in the Red Sea and swiftly respond to the orders of the Yemeni navy." He also advised against ships heading toward occupied ports in Palestine.

Al-Houthi recalled that "the Yemeni Armed Forces have clearly announced their goals in support of Gaza, including stopping the American-Israeli terrorist aggression."