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Yemen’s Houthis Threaten to Hit US Ships as More Tankers Steer Clear
A missile is launched from a warship during the US-led coalition operation against military targets in Yemen, aimed at the Iran-backed Houthi militia that has been targeting international shipping in the Red Sea, from an undisclosed location, in this handout picture released on Jan. 12, 2024. Photo: US Central Command via X/Handout via REUTERS
Yemen’s Houthi movement will expand its targets in the Red Sea region to include US ships, an official from the Iran-allied group said on Monday, as it vowed to keep up attacks after US and British strikes on its sites in Yemen.
Attacks by the Houthis on ships in the area since November have impacted companies and alarmed major powers in an escalation of the more than three-month war between Israel and Hamas terrorists in Gaza. The group says it is acting in solidarity with Palestinians.
British and American ships had become “legitimate targets” due to the strikes launched by the two countries on Yemen last week, Nasruldeen Amer, a spokesperson for the Houthis, told Al Jazeera.
“The ship doesn’t necessarily have to be heading to Israel for us to target it, it is enough for it to be American,” Amer said. “The United States is on the verge of losing its maritime security.”
The Houthis previously said they would only target Israeli ships or those en route to Israel.
In the latest apparent attack, Houthi terrorists struck a US-owned vessel carrying steel products with an anti-ship ballistic missile on Monday.
The dry bulk carrier Gibraltar Eagle was struck while south of the Yemeni port of Aden, causing a fire in a hold but no injuries on board, operator Eagle Bulk Shipping said.
The ship was continuing on its way, it said.
Container vessels have been pausing or diverting from the Red Sea that leads to the Suez Canal, the fastest freight route from Asia to Europe. Many ship have been forced to take the longer route via the Cape of Good Hope instead.
Ship-tracking data on Monday showed at least 15 tankers altering course in response to the escalating conflict.
LNG TANKERS
QatarEnergy, the world’s second largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), has joined those avoiding the Red Sea, a senior source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Qatar’s Al Ghariya, Al Huwaila, and Al Nuaman LNG tankers loaded at Ras Laffan and were heading to the Suez Canal but stopped in Oman on Jan. 14, LSEG ship-tracking data showed. The Al Rekayyat, which was sailing back to Qatar, stopped in the Red Sea on Jan. 13.
“It is a pause to get security advice, if passing [through the] Red Sea remains unsafe we will go via the Cape,” the source told Reuters regarding QatarEnergy.
The Qatari government and QatarEnergy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
About 12 percent of world shipping traffic transits the Suez Canal via the Red Sea.
The longer route round Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, which various shipping firms have opted for, can add about nine days to the normally 18-day trip from Qatar to northwest Europe.
The Houthis have been at war with a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen for years, but have turned their sights on the sea to show support for the Palestinian terror group Hamas in Gaza.
On Sunday, the United States said its fighter aircraft had shot down an anti-ship cruise missile fired by the militants toward a US destroyer. No injuries or damage were reported, it said on X/Twitter.
US ally Britain said it had no desire to be involved in Red Sea conflict but was committed to protecting free navigation.
“Let’s wait and see what happens,” Defense Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News on Monday regarding potential further strikes on Houthi sites.
China also called for an end to attacks on civilian vessels in the Red Sea that have placed Beijing’s commercial interests at risk.
SUPPLIES AFFECTED
With vessels pausing or diverting, some supply lines are being affected.
Carmaker Suzuki on Monday said it was halting production at its Esztergom plant in Hungary until Jan. 21 as the Red Sea attacks had delayed the arrival of Japanese-made engines.
In energy markets, however, the impact was limited. European benchmark gas prices were lower in afternoon trade on Monday, LSEG data showed, while oil prices lost roughly 1 percent as the conflict’s limited impact on crude output prompted profit taking after oil benchmarks gained 2 percent last week.
The post Yemen’s Houthis Threaten to Hit US Ships as More Tankers Steer Clear first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.