Yemen's Houthis said on Monday they launched a missile at an oil tanker off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, potentially renewing their attacks targeting shipping through the crucial global waterway.
Houthi military spokesman Brig Gen Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for the launch in a prerecorded message aired on Al-Masirah, a Houthi-controlled satellite news channel.
He alleged the vessel, the Scarlet Ray, had ties to Israel. The ship's owners could not be immediately reached.
The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre, which monitors Middle East shipping, earlier reported a ship had heard a splash and a bang off its side near Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.
From November 2023 to December 2024, the Houthis targeted more than 100 ships with missiles and drones over Israel’s war in Gaza.
In their campaign so far, the Houthis have sunk four vessels and killed at least eight mariners.
The Iranian-aligned Houthis stopped their attacks during a brief ceasefire in the war.
They later became the target of an intense weeks-long campaign of airstrikes ordered by US President Donald Trump before he declared a ceasefire had been reached with the fighters.
The Houthis sank two vessels in July, killing at least four on board, with others believed to be held by the fighters.
The Houthis’ new attacks come as a new possible ceasefire in Israel’s deadly war on Gaza remains hostage to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reluctance to end the war.
Israel launched a series of airstrikes last week, killing the Houthi prime minister and several Cabinet members.
