Is Red Sea truce over? What Houthi attacks mean for US, regional stability
The renewed Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea may give Iran time to recover from the June war with Israel, according to some observers.
The Houthi rebels in Yemen resumed attacks on ships in the Red Sea on Sunday despite a May ceasefire with the United States — a move that experts say exhibits the Iran-back group's intention to push back against the United States and Israel.
What happened: As of Thursday, 10 people have been rescued from the Eternity C, a Liberian-flagged and Greek-owned cargo ship, following a Monday evening attack on the ship by the Houthis. At least three people aboard the ship, which later sank, were killed in the attack and 10 others remain unaccounted for.
The ship, en route north toward the Suez Canal, was struck by drones and rocket-propelled grenades launched from small boats, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) group. Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree on Wednesday claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the ship was bound for Israel’s Eilat port, though the ship tracker MarineTraffic listed its destination as Berbera, Somalia.
"The targeting of the ship came after the company that owns the ship itself resumed operations with the port of Umm al-Rashrash [Eilat port], in clear violation of the ban on operations with the aforementioned port," said Saree.
