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According to media reports, Houthi rebels hijacked a cargo ship off the coast of Yemen and took several hostages. The rebels had taken control of the car transporter ‘Galaxy Leader’, Al-Hadath news channel reported on Sunday. There is a crew of 22 people on board. Al-Hadath did not cite a source for this information.

According to Israeli media, the cargo ship is operated by a company partly owned by British-Israeli businessman Rami Ungar. The approximately 190 meter long ‘Galaxy Leader’ was built in 2002 and sails under the flag of the Bahamas.

A spokesperson for the Israeli army spoke of a “very serious incident with global reach”. The cargo ship was en route from Turkey to India with an international crew on board. There are no Israeli nationals on board. He emphasized that it was “not an Israeli ship.”

On Sunday, Iran-backed Houthi rebels threatened to attack “all ships” linked to Israel. From now on, all ships flying the Israeli flag, owned by Israeli companies or operated by Israeli companies are a target, said spokesperson Jahja Sari.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office directly blamed Iran for the attack. “We strongly condemn the Iranian attack on an international ship,” the spokesperson said. According to information, there are 25 crew members on the ship, including people from Ukraine, Bulgaria, Mexico and the Philippines. “This is another act of Iranian terrorism.” (sda/dpa)