IDF strikes Houthi ports, targets hijacked ‘radar ship’ Galaxy Leader

The extensive wave of strikes targeted three ports and a captured cargo ship Israelis said had been outfitted with a radar system to track shipping in the Red Sea for rebel attacks.

Israel has carried out a wave of strikes on Yemen ports held by the Houthi rebels, saying it had “struck and destroyed Houthi terror infrastructure” after issuing evacuation orders.

The Israeli Defence Forces targeted the ports of Hodeida, Ras Isa, and Salif, and the Ras Khatib power station.

The IDF also targeted the Galaxy Leader cargo ship, a hijacked vessel which the Israelis say had been outfitted with a radar system to track shipping in the Red Sea for rebel attacks.

The Galaxy Leader was famously captured in November 2023, with Houthis filming themselves as they boarded the ship and took its crew of 25 prisoner. The international crew was held for more than a year before their release in January 2025.

The IDF said the Houthis “installed a radar system on the ship, and are using it to track vessels in international maritime space, in order to promote the Houthi terrorist regime’s activities.”

Houthis filmed their takeover of the Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea in November 2023. Picture: Houthi Movement via Getty Images.

After the attack, which left Hodeidah in darkness, Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz warned: “Yemen will be treated like Tehran,” referencing the Israeli strikes across Iran during their 12-day war.

“Anyone who tries to harm Israel will be harmed, anyone who raises a hands against Israel will have it cut off,” Mr Katz said. “The Houthis will continue to pay a heavy price for their actions.”

The attacks came after crew members aboard a Liberian-flagged ship set ablaze by a series of attacks in the Red Sea abandoned the vessel on Sunday night as it began to take on water.

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 air strike 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 air strikes targeting its most-sensitive atomic sites amid an Israeli war against the Islamic Republic.

“It likely serves as a message that the Houthis continue to possess the capability and willingness to strike at strategic maritime targets regardless of diplomatic developments,” wrote Mohammad al-Basha, a Yemen analyst at the Basha Report risk advisory firm.

The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre first said that an armed security team on the unidentified vessel had returned fire against an initial attack and that the “situation is ongoing.” It described the attack as happening some 100 kilometres southwest of Hodeida.

“Authorities are investigating,” it said. It later said the ship was on fire after being “struck by unknown projectiles."

Ambrey, a private maritime security firm, 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 United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said the ship was taking on water and its crew had abandoned the vessel.

Moammar al-Eryani, the information minister for Yemen’s exiled government opposing the Houthis, identified the vessel attacked as the Magic Seas and blamed the rebels for the attack. The ship had been broadcasting it had an armed security team on board in the vicinity the attack took place and had been heading north.

The Magic Seas' owners did not respond to a request for comment.

AFP, AP