The Houthis say they will release the crew of a cargo ship they kidnapped 14 months ago

Yemen’s Houthi rebels said on Wednesday they would release the crew of the Galaxy Leader merchant ship they kidnapped 14 months ago as part of their campaign of attacks in the Red Sea to support Hamas in its war against Israel.

The decision is consistent with an announcement made on Sunday by the Iran-backed rebel group to reduce its attacks, given the ceasefire in the Gaza conflict that took effect over the weekend.

The Houthis took the Galaxy Leader ship to the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, and have since held its crew hostage. World Cargo News reported in November that Crew of 25 people They included citizens of the Philippines, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Mexico and Romania.

Nasser al-Din Amer, a senior Houthi official, said on social media that the detained crew members would be released on Wednesday. The Yemeni Al-Masirah channel, affiliated with the rebels, said that the decision was issued by order of the Houthi leader, Abdul-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, and was carried out in coordination with Hamas and mediated by Oman.

The release could not be independently confirmed.

The Galaxy Leader, designed to carry vehicles, sails under the Bahamas flag, and appeared on Wednesday as “parked” in the Red Sea and outside satellite navigation range. According to the MarineTraffic websitea ship tracking app and website that provides real-time information on ships around the world.

The seizure of the ship, which was on its way to India from Türkiye, was among the most significant Daring naval operations By the Houthis and came at the beginning of their campaign to support Hamas, which attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, leading to the outbreak of war in Gaza.

At that time, the Houthis threatened to target Israeli-flagged, owned and operated ships crossing the Red Sea. After the Galaxy Leader was seized, a Houthi spokesman announced that the kidnapping was a show of support for “the oppressed Palestinian people.”

While the Israeli military said the Galaxy Leader crew did not have any Israelis, it appears that an Israeli billionaire, Rami Ungar, was at one point the beneficial owner of the company that owned the ship, according to the Paradise Papers. Major leak of confidential documents In 2017, it revealed a hidden world of wealth and ownership. The beneficial owner of a company is a person who exercises control over it, owns more than a quarter of it, or receives a significant economic benefit from it.

The Houthi campaign against Israel has disrupted maritime traffic on one of the world’s most important shipping routes, forcing many ships to make a much longer journey around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa.

In recent months, the group has also launched a series of missile attacks on Israel. Most of the missiles were intercepted before they reached Israeli territory, but the Israeli military responded with a series of air strikes against targets in Yemen linked to the rebels.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam said Social media On Sunday, support for the Palestinian cause will remain a top priority even after the ceasefire. The Houthis said they would stop targeting all ships “upon full implementation of all phases” of the ceasefire agreement. But they said they would continue to target ships owned by Israeli individuals or entities or sailing under the Israeli flag.

But in an email dated Sunday and sent by A A group linked to the Houthis The Houthis, who are communicating with the shipping industry, have warned that if the United States or Britain attacks Yemen directly, they will resume their attacks on ships linked to those countries.