On July 6, the Houthis, the Iran-backed terrorist group ruling northern Yemen, ended an approximately 7-month hiatus from attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea with an attack on a cargo ship, the Magic Seas. The next day, they attacked another cargo vessel, the Liberian-flagged Eternity C, killing three crew members.
The first attack entailed “two unmanned boats, five ballistic and cruise missiles, and three drones,” according to Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree. The unmanned boats carried explosives that damaged the vessel. Men in small boats also attacked the ship with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. The attack occurred near Hodeidah, a Houthi-controlled port city on the Red Sea.
The Houthis targeted the ship, which is Greek-owned and flies a Liberian flag, because it “belongs to a company that violated the entry ban to the ports of occupied Palestine,” said Saree. According to The Wall Street Journal, another vessel operated by Magic Seas’ operator is currently at port in Ashdod in central Israel.
The Houthis have attempted a blockade of Israel’s southernmost Eilat port since 2023 by targeting Red Sea shipping, conducting 145 attacks on commercial vessels, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The Yemeni terrorist group also announced a blockade of Haifa, Israel’s northern port, in mid-May. The group’s attacks are in proclaimed solidarity with Palestinians during the war in Gaza.
The crew of the Magic Seas abandoned the vessel and were rescued. In a post on the Houthi military’s X account attributed to Saree, the Houthis claimed that “the ship ‘Magic Seas’ sank completely into the depths of the sea after being targeted by our armed forces.”
On July 7, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) announced another attack in progress. “UKMTO has received several 3rd party reports of an incident 51NM west of Al Hudaydah, Yemen. The vessel has been attacked by multiple rocket-propelled grenades from small craft,” UKMTO announced. Yemen’s Internationally Recognized Government and the European Union’s Operation Aspides, which aims to provide maritime security in the region, blamed this second attack on the Houthis. However, the group has not yet claimed it.
The latest attack, carried out against Eternity C, another Greek-owned and Liberian-flagged cargo ship, killed three people and wounded two others.
A ceasefire between the Houthis and the United States began on May 6 and was intended to protect shipping in the Red Sea. “We will take their word. They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore,” said US President Donald Trump. The Houthis also affirmed an Omani statement that said the deal would ensure “the smooth flow of international commercial shipping.”
Israeli airstrikes on the Houthis
In response to the July 6 attack on Magic Seas, Israel struck the Yemeni ports of Hodeidah, Al Salif, and Ras Isa, as well as the Ras Katib power station and the Galaxy Leader, a ship hijacked by the Houthis in 2023. The three ports, located in the coastal, Houthi-controlled governorate of Hodeidah, are key revenue sources for the Yemeni terrorist group, receiving roughly 80 percent of Yemen’s imports.
“The strikes targeted sites used to transfer Iranian weapons and attack Israeli civilians with UAVs & missiles,” the IDF said. American and Israeli airstrikes have previously targeted the ports of Hodeidah, Al Salif, and Ras Isa. The Galaxy Leader was targeted because the Houthis have used the ship to detect vessels in the Red Sea
