On Wednesday, Yemen’s Houthis released the crew of the Galaxy Leader, a commercial ship the Yemeni group seized in November 2023 as part of its response to Israel’s onslaught in Gaza.
Yemen’s Al Masirah TV reported that the Houthis released the crew to Oman in coordination with Hamas as part of an arrangement related to the ceasefire in Gaza.
The Galaxy Leader, a Bahamian-flagged car carrier, is owned by Ray Car Carriers, a British shipping firm founded by Abraham Ungar, an Israeli businessman. The 25-person crew includes mariners from the Philippines, Bulgaria, Romania, Mexico, and Ukraine.
“Today, in Sanaa, we witness a manifestation of Palestinian victory in the face of the genocide endured by the Gaza Strip,” said Moath Abushamala, Hamas’s representative in Yemen.
The Houthis have stopped their attacks on Red Sea shipping in response to the Gaza ceasefire but are warning they could restart if Israel doesn’t uphold the deal. “Our stance is to support the Palestinian people, and we remain committed to this position,” said Jalal al-Rowaishan, a Yemeni official who spoke at a press conference when the crew was released.
President Biden launched a bombing campaign in January 2024 against the Houthis in defense of Israeli shipping, but it only escalated the situation in the Red Sea and didn’t deter the Houthis from attacking Israel.
Biden’s envoy had acknowledged that a ceasefire in Gaza would have stopped the Houthi attacks, but his administration refused to put real pressure on Israel to reach a deal. The key factor in reaching the agreement that led to the current truce in Gaza was Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s Middle East envoy, who put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sign the deal.
