Yemen army targets Israel-linked ships in Red Sea, Gulf of Aden

The spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces says the country’s naval units have carried out separate attacks on two ships affiliated to Israel as part of a maritime campaign in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Delivering a televised speech broadcast live from the Yemeni capital Sana’a on Thursday evening, Brigadier General Yahya Saree announced that the Yemeni forces had targeted Sounion oil tanker as it was sailing in the Red Sea waters.

He added that the ship was precisely struck, and it is now at the risk of sinking.

Saree noted that Sounion “belongs to a company that has ties with the Israeli enemy, and violated the ban decision of entry to the ports of occupied Palestine.”

The European Union's Red Sea naval mission “Aspides” confirmed on Thursday that the Greek-flagged oil tanker was evacuated by its crew after being attacked in the Red Sea.

Sounion was targeted by multiple projectiles off Yemen's strategic western port city of Hudaydah on Wednesday. It was the third vessel operated by Athens-based Delta Tankers to be attacked in the Red Sea this month.

Delta Tankers said in a statement that the attack caused a fire onboard, which the crew extinguished.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Wednesday that the attack led to the loss of engine power. On Thursday, UKMTO said the vessel was at anchor and all its crew evacuated.

The vessel was now anchored between Yemen and Eritrea, a maritime security source told Reuters.

Yemen says will surely respond to Israel’s ‘vicious’ attack on Hudaydah

“Yemen’s response in retaliation for the barbaric and vicious Israeli assault on Hudaydah will be delivered through any possible means.”

As for the second operation, the spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces said the SW North Wind I vessel, which belongs to a company that has business relations with the occupying Israeli regime, was hit precisely while sailing in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.

The UKMTO said the SW North Wind I vessel reported an explosion close to it that caused minor damage after an encounter with an uncrewed surface vessel (USV) 57 nautical miles south of Yemen's port of Aden.

Saree highlighted that the Yemeni forces would continue their pro-Palestinian operations as long as the Israeli regime sustained the war and a siege that it has been simultaneously enforcing against Gaza.

The regime’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed at least 40,265 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 93,000 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under rubble.

Since the onset of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, the Yemeni forces have carried out scores of operations in support of the war-hit Gazans, striking targets throughout the occupied Palestinian territories, in addition to targeting Israeli ships or vessels heading towards ports in the occupied territories.

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