Israel’s military has launched airstrikes targeting ports and facilities held by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, with the rebels responding with missile fire targeting Israel.
The attacks early on Monday came after an attack on Sunday targeting a Liberian-flagged ship in the Red Sea that caught fire and took on water, later forcing its crew to abandon the vessel.
Suspicion for the attack on the Greek-owned bulk carrier Magic Seas immediately fell on the Houthis, particularly as a security firm said it appeared bomb-carrying drone boats hit the ship after it was targeted by small arms and rocket-propelled grenades.
The rebels’ media reported on the attack but did not claim it. It can take them hours or even days before they acknowledge an assault.
A renewed Houthi campaign against shipping could again draw in US and Western forces to the area, particularly after President Donald Trump targeted the rebels in a major airstrike campaign.
The ship attack comes at a sensitive moment in the Middle East, as a possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war hangs in the balance and as Iran weighs whether to restart negotiations over its nuclear program following American airstrikes targeting its most-sensitive atomic sites amid an Israeli war against the Islamic Republic.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also was travelling to Washington to meet with Trump.
The Israeli military said it struck Houthi-held ports at Hodeida, Ras Isa and Salif, as well as the Ras Kanatib power plant.
“These ports are used by the Houthi terrorist regime to transfer weapons from the Iranian regime, which are employed to carry out terrorist operations against the state of Israel and its allies,” the Israeli military said.
The Israeli military also said it struck the Galaxy Leader, a vehicle-carrying vessel that the Houthis seized back in November 2023 when they began their attacks in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war.
“Houthi forces installed a radar system on the ship and have been using it to track vessels in the international maritime arena to facilitate further terrorist activities,” the Israeli military said.
The Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader was affiliated with an Israeli billionaire. It said no Israelis were on board. The ship had been operated by a Japanese firm NYK Line.
The Houthis acknowledged the strikes, but offered no damage assessment from the attack. Their military spokesman, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, claimed its air defence forces “effectively confronted” the Israelis without offering evidence.
The Houthis then responded with an apparent missile attack on Israel. The Israeli military said it attempted to intercept the missile, but it appeared to make impact, though there were no immediate reports of injuries from the attack.
The attack on the Magic Seas, a bulk carrier heading north to Egypt’s Suez Canal, happened some 100km southwest of Hodeida, Yemen, which is held by the Houthis.
Private maritime security firm Ambrey issued an alert saying that a merchant ship had been “attacked by eight skiffs while transiting northbound in the Red Sea”.
Ambrey later said the ship also had been attacked by bomb-carrying drone boats, which could mark a major escalation. It said two drone boats struck the ship, while another two had been destroyed by the armed guards on board.
The Magic Seas met “the established Houthi target profile”, the firm said without elaborating.
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.
Their campaign has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $US1 trillion ($A1.5 trillion) of goods move through it annually. Shipping through the Red Sea, while still lower than normal, has increased in recent weeks.
The Houthis paused attacks in a self-imposed ceasefire until the US launched a broad assault against the rebels in mid-March. That ended weeks later and the Houthis haven’t attacked a vessel, though they have continued occasional missile attacks targeting Israel.
On Sunday, the group claimed launching an earlier missile at Israel which the Israeli military said it intercepted.
Australian Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national newswire and has been delivering accurate, reliable and fast news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We keep Australia informed.
