Yemen's Houthi rebels release crew of commercial vessel seized in Red Sea in November 2023
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Yemen's Houthi rebels said Wednesday they released the crew of the Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier seized in November 2023 at the start of their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war. The rebels said they released the sailors after mediation by Oman, a sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula that's long been an interlocutor with the Houthis. Oman did not immediately acknowledge the release, though an Omani Royal Air Force jet took a flight to Yemen earlier Wednesday.
The Houthis also said Hamas separately requested the Houthis release the ship's crew of 25 who included mariners from the Philippines, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Mexico. “This step comes in support of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza,” the Houthis said in a statement on rebel-controlled SABA news agency.
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they hijacked the ship over its connection to Israel. They then had a campaign targeting ships in international waters, which only stopped with the recent ceasefire in Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. A representative for the Galaxy Leader's owners had no immediate comment.
The Bahamas-flagged vessel is affiliated with an Israeli billionaire Abraham “Rami” Ungar, who is known as one of the richest men in Israel. The Houthi attack on the Galaxy Leader saw the rebels launched a helicopter-borne raid. Propaganda footage of the raid has been played constantly by the Houthis, who even shot a music video aboard the ship at one point.
