Yemen’s Houthi rebels hijacked an Israeli ship in the Red Sea
The ship is owned by billionaire Israeli businessman Abraham Remi Ongar.
Karachi, Gaza (News Desk, AFP) Yemen’s Houthi rebels have hijacked an Israeli cargo ship in the Red Sea and taken 22 crew members hostage.
The ship is owned by billionaire Israeli businessman Abraham Remi Ongar, who is a close friend of former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen.
The Israeli government and military have rejected the claim that the hijacked ship belongs to Israel, but Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has blamed Iran for the hijacking.
The ship had departed from Turkey and was heading to India. Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Filipinos and Mexicans were on board.
The spokesman of the Houthis, Yahya Saree, has said in a statement that the Israeli ships have been seized in response to the aggression, illegal siege and barbaric actions on Gaza. Our actions will continue until the end of Zionist aggression.
On the other hand, cease-fire efforts in Gaza have intensified. The Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, has said that the agreement to release Israeli citizens and soldiers from the captivity of Hamas is currently facing some “minor” problems.
During a joint press conference with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, he said that he is more optimistic that we have come quite close to an agreement.
The American newspaper Washington Post says that a 5-day ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement has been reached in American mediation. A White House spokesman says Israel and Hamas have not reached a prisoner deal yet. The American newspaper claimed that about 50 hostages are expected to be released within 24 hours.
According to the details, the Iranian-backed Houthis active in Yemen have said that they have hijacked an Israeli ship from the Red Sea.
The ship flies the Bahamian flag and is named “Galaxy Leader”. It has been reported that when this ship was passing through the Arabian peninsula and heading south towards India, armed Houthi rebels boarded it.
Although the ship is registered in the UK, it is owned by an Israeli businessman. Currently, the vessel is leased to a Japanese company.
The Israeli military says there are no Jewish civilians on board, but the incident has been described as serious.
According to maritime sources and a spokesman for the Houthi rebels, the ship is in areas controlled by the Houthi tribes. This incident came after the Houthi rebels announced that they would target Israeli ships in the Red Sea in response to the ongoing atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza.
In a statement on social media, Israel has said that this incident will have serious consequences. Last week, the leader of the Houthi tribes, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, said that our eyes are always open to find every ship passing through the area, especially the ship that passed through Bab al-Mandab will be targeted.
According to public shipping databases, the ship is owned by Ray Carr Carriers, a company founded by Abraham Remi Ongar, one of Israel’s richest men.
According to the Times of Israel report, Mr. Ongar is closely related to Yossi Cohen, the former director of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. Remember that since the beginning of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Houthi rebels have launched at least 6 missile attacks against Israel.
