Houthis target more vessels in retaliation

According to Reuters, Yemen's Houthis targeted three vessels, including an oil tanker, in the Red and Mediterranean seas with ballistic missiles, drones and booby-trapped boats.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the latest Houthi military operations were a response to the Israeli airstrike on the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis on Saturday, an attack that killed at least 90 Palestinians and wounded 300 others, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

In dozens of attacks since November 2023, the Houthis have sunk two vessels and seized another, killed at least three sailors and upended global trade by forcing ship owners to avoid the popular Suez Canal trade shortcut.

It recently has become more effective at damaging ships largely through using unmanned, armed watercraft that damage a vessel's vulnerable waterline.

In a televised speech, Saree said the Houthis have targeted the Bentley I refined products carrier and the Chios Lion oil tanker in the Red Sea.

US Central Command late on Monday confirmed those attacks and said no damage or injuries had been reported.

The Houthis said it also joined the Iraqi Islamic Resistance in targeting the Olvia in the Mediterranean Sea. Reuters could not independently verify that attack.

Managers of the Panama-flagged Bentley I, Liberia-flagged Chios Lion and Cyprus-flagged Olvia could not be immediately reached for comment.

Earlier on Monday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said that two vessels came under attack in the Red Sea off Yemen's port city of Hodeidah, with one ship reporting it had sustained some damage.

A vessel 97 nautical miles northwest of Hodeidah was attacked by an uncrewed drone boat that hit its port side, causing some damage and light smoke.

Another merchant vessel, 70 nautical miles southwest of Hodeidah, came under attack by three small watercraft, UKMTO and security firm Ambrey said separately.

The Master of that ship reported being attacked by three small craft. One of those watercraft was unmanned and twice collided with the ship as passengers on the other two boats fired on the ship. The vessel conducted "self-protection measures" and after 15 minutes the small craft aborted the attack, UKMTO said.

Later in what appeared to be two separate attacks, the Master reported four projectiles exploding near the vessel.

Both the vessel and crew were reported as safe and proceeding to the next port of call, Ambrey said.

Since November 2023, Houthi militants in Yemen have launched drone and missile strikes in shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The group says these actions are in solidarity with Palestinians affected by Israel's war in Gaza.

US and British have conducted retaliatory strikes since February - shooting down drones and bombing attack sites in Yemen.

At least 65 countries and major energy and shipping companies have been affected by Houthi attacks, according to a report by the US Defense Intelligence Agency.

Get ready for closure of Mediterranean Sea and Gibraltar

The deputy coordinator of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps said on Saturday that the United States and its allies might have to halt their activities in several more waterways due to their persisting crimes in the besieged Gaza Strip. 

“Yesterday, the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz were a nightmare for them, today the Bab-el-Mandeb and the Red Sea have grounded them, and with the continuation of these crimes, they should soon expect the closure of the Mediterranean Sea and Gibraltar,” said General Mohammadreza Naghdi.

The US has formed what it calls an international alliance to counter Yemen’s attacks in the Red Sea, which have been targeting Israeli-bound ships in recent weeks in response to the regime’s killing campaign in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Attacks by the popular Ansarullah movement have been recorded against Israeli-linked vessels. This has caused Israel’s Eilat Port to see an 85% drop in activity. 

The high-ranking IRGC official warned that more resistance groups are to be formed in the future if the US and the Israeli regime do not put an end to their massacre of innocent people. 

"Today we all witness the unprecedented awakening of nations. The people in the entire world have been on the streets for nearly 80 days and are shouting for justice. Throughout these days, people file lawsuits and shout against the oppressors," he added.

The latest round of Israeli attacks on Gaza, which began after a successful operation by Palestinian resistance group Hamas on the occupied territories, has killed more than 20,000 civilians in the past 80 days. More than 70% of the dead are comprised of women and children.

Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubbles in the territory as those managing to flee from Israeli bombardments grapple with a lack of food, water, and medicine due to a full siege by the Israeli regime. 

Israel accuses Iran of ecological terrorism

Iran intentionally polluted the Mediterranean Sea and Israel’s shores in an act of ecological terrorism, causing the greatest environmental disaster in Israel’s history, Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel said.

“This pollution has people who are responsible for it and have to pay the price. Our nature is damaged, our animals are harmed, thanks to merciless environmental criminals,” Gamliel added.

Gamliel explained, following a two-week investigation, the Environmental Protection Ministry found that the ship that leaked the crude oil, called the Emerald, was owned by a Libyan company and sailed from Iran to Syria. It departed Iran, turning off its automatic identification system (AIS) – which transmits its location to other ships in the area. It turned the AIS on as it went through the Suez Canal, and then off again as it approached Israel’s shores.

The ship remained within tens of kilometers of Israel’s shores, within Israel’s economic waters, for nearly a full day, spilling large amounts of oil on 1st and 2nd February, with its AIS off.

Then it continued on to Syria, where it turned on its transmitter, and it returned to Iran, turning off its AIS as it passed Israel. It is currently in Iran.

The tar reached Israeli shores on 17th February 2021.

“Now we see Iran is not just terrorizing [Israel] with [attempts at attaining] nuclear weapons and entrenching itself in our region, but also by harming the environment,” Gamliel said. “They’re not just hurting Israel. Nature and animals don’t just belong to one nation. This is a battle that crosses borders.”

Gamliel said that Israel will demand compensation from the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund and the ship’s insurers.

“We will settle the score with the polluters in the name of all Israelis for the harm to our health, nature, animals and view,” she vowed. “We cannot abandon our sea. Our sea is our natural treasure that we must protect.”

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the European Maritime Safety Agency, as well as Israeli maritime research company Windward, helped the Environmental Protection Ministry investigate the oil spill. None of the agencies knew about the oil spill before the tar reached Israeli shores, over two weeks after it occurred.

Samples of the tar, which the Environmental Protection Ministry examined, showed that it came from crude oil, which sharply reduced the number of suspected ships from 35 to four. Two were found to have been too far away, and another was examined by local authorities in Spain and by Israeli investigators in Greece. The fourth is the Emerald, currently in Iran.

European satellites caught the underwater stain on 5th February, but it was not noticed before the tar reached Israel’s beaches.