The Houthis announced on Friday 12/15 that they had targeted two container ships, the MSC Alania and MSC Palatium, off the coast of Yemen, which were heading to Israel, after a series of similar attacks since the outbreak of the war between the Hebrew state and Hamas.

Recent Houthi attacks
Israel said the Houthis seized a British-owned, Japanese-operated cargo ship in the southern Red Sea on November 19. Then on December 3, the US military announced that three commercial ships were attacked in international waters in the southern Red Sea, and the Houthis claimed responsibility for drone and missile attacks on two Israeli ships in the region.

On December 9, the Houthis warned that they would target all ships heading to Israel, regardless of their nationality, and warned all international shipping companies against dealing with Israeli ports.

The Houthi spokesman said on December 12 that the group targeted the Norwegian commercial tanker Strinda. A US official said that the attack occurred about 111 kilometers north of the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

On December 15, a US defense official said that a projectile fired from an area in Yemen controlled by the Houthis hit the Al-Jasra ship, owned by a German company and flying the flag of Liberia, causing a fire to break out, but no casualties were reported. On the same day, Maersk denied the Houthi movement’s allegations that it carried out a military drone operation on a Maersk ship sailing towards Israel, but said the tanker was targeted by a missile. Navigation sources said on Thursday that Maersk Tankers ships had the option of changing their course via the Cape of Good Hope due to the deteriorating security situation in the Red Sea.
In addition, a US official confirmed the Houthi allegations and explained that the Palatium 3 ship was hit by a missile launched from areas controlled by the Houthis. In Yemen
pointing out that the destroyer Maysen is on its way to respond to the attack in the vicinity of Bab al-Mandab on the Red Sea.