DUBAI – On Monday, Israel’s military carried out airstrikes aimed at ports and sites controlled by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. In response, the rebels launched missile attacks toward Israel.

These hostilities followed an incident on Sunday where a Liberian-flagged vessel in the Red Sea caught fire and began taking on water, eventually compelling the crew to evacuate the ship.

The Greek-owned bulk carrier Magic Seas was the target, with suspicions immediately turning to the Houthis. A security firm reported that the vessel was likely struck by bomb-laden drone boats after being attacked with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. The rebels covered the incident in their media but initially did not claim responsibility. They often take hours or even days to confirm their involvement in such actions.

A renewed Houthi campaign against shipping could again draw in U.S. and Western forces to the area, particularly after President Donald Trump targeted the rebels in a major airstrike campaign.

The ship attack comes at a sensitive moment in the Middle East, as a possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war hangs in the balance and as Iran weighs whether to restart negotiations over its nuclear program following American airstrikes targeting its most-sensitive atomic sites amid an Israeli war against the Islamic Republic. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also was traveling to Washington to meet with Trump.

Israeli strikes target Houthi-held ports

The Israeli military said it struck Houthi-held ports at Hodeida, Ras Isa and Salif, as well as the Ras Kanatib power plant.

“These ports are used by the Houthi terrorist regime to transfer weapons from the Iranian regime, which are employed to carry out terrorist operations against the state of Israel and its allies,” the Israeli military said.

The Israeli military also said it struck the Galaxy Leader, a vehicle-carrying vessel that the Houthis seized back in November 2023 when they began their attacks in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war.

“Houthi forces installed a radar system on the ship and have been using it to track vessels in the international maritime arena to facilitate further terrorist activities,” the Israeli military said.

The Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader was affiliated with an Israeli billionaire. It said no Israelis were on board. The ship had been operated by a Japanese firm NYK Line.

The Houthis acknowledged the strikes, but offered no damage assessment from the attack. Their military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, claimed its air defense forces “effectively confronted” the Israelis without offering evidence.

The Houthis then responded with an apparent missile attack on Israel. The Israeli military said it attempted to intercept the missile, but it appeared to make impact, though there were no immediate reports of injuries from the attack.

Ship attack forces crew to abandon vessel

The attack on the Magic Seas, a bulk carrier heading north to Egypt’s Suez Canal, happened some 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Hodeida, Yemen, which is held by the Houthis. The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center first said that an armed security team on the vessel had returned fire against an initial attack, though the vessel later was struck by projectiles.

Ambrey, a private maritime security firm, issued an alert saying that a merchant ship had been “attacked by eight skiffs while transiting northbound in the Red Sea.”

Ambrey later said the ship also had been attacked by bomb-carrying drone boats, which could mark a major escalation. It said two drone boats struck the ship, while another two had been destroyed by the armed guards on board.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said the ship was taking on water and its crew had abandoned the vessel. They were rescued by a passing ship, it added.

The U.S. Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet referred questions to the military’s Central Command, which said it was aware of the incident without elaborating.

Moammar al-Eryani, the information minister for Yemen’s exiled government opposing the Houthis, identified the vessel attacked as the Magic Seas and blamed the rebels for the attack. The ship had been broadcasting it had an armed security team on board in the vicinity the attack took place and had been heading north.

“The attack also proves once again that the Houthis are merely a front for an Iranian scheme using Yemen as a platform to undermine regional and global stability, at a time when Tehran continues to arm the militia and provide it with military technology, including missiles, aircraft, drones, and sea mines,” al-Eryani wrote on the social platform X.

The Magic Seas’ owners did not respond to a request for comment.

Houthi attacks came over Israel-Hamas war

The Houthi rebels have been launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group’s leadership has described as an effort to end Israel’s offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The group’s al-Masirah satellite news channel acknowledged the attack occurred, but offered no other comment on it as it aired a speech by its secretive leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi. However, Ambrey said the Magic Seas met “the established Houthi target profile,” without elaborating.

Between November 2023 and January 2025, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. Their campaign has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually. Shipping through the Red Sea, while still lower than normal, has increased in recent weeks.

The Houthis paused attacks in a self-imposed ceasefire until the U.S. launched a broad assault against the rebels in mid-March. That ended weeks later and the Houthis haven’t attacked a vessel, though they have continued occasional missile attacks targeting Israel. On Sunday, the group claimed launching an earlier missile at Israel which the Israeli military said it intercepted.