Yemen’s Houthi army claims attacks on 2 more Israel-bound container ships

News Network

December 16, 2023

The Houthi Army of Yemen says it has targeted two Israeli-bound container ships in waters off the country’s coast, the latest of their operations to support Palestinians who are under brutal attacks by Israel.

In a statement, the Yemeni Army said it fired two naval missiles at two ships heading to Israel, namely MSC ALANYA and MSC PALATIUM III after they refused to respond to calls from Yemen as well as fire warning messages on Friday.

The statement reiterated Yemen’s position that they will only target ships heading to Israeli ports, and all the other ships bound for other ports can freely move in waters near Yemen.

The Yemeni Army stressed it will continue to target Israel-bound ships in the Arabian and Red Sea until food and medicine is delivered to the Gaza Strip.

Earlier, a US defense official had reported two attacks in the region, saying a US Navy destroyer was on its way to aid one of the vessels hit.

No casualties have been reported.

Yemen's Army has conducted several such attacks against Israel-bound ships in recent weeks.

Late on Thursday, Yemen claimed to have carried out a military operation against a Maersk container vessel, directly hitting it with a drone.

In November, Yemeni forces seized a vehicle transport ship linked to Israel in the Red Sea off Yemen. They still hold the vessel near the port city of Hodeida.

Some attacks occurred near Bab al-Mandab, the narrow strait between Yemen and northeast Africa through which much of global commerce flows.

Some 40 percent of international trade passes through the area, which leads to the Red Sea.

Western media reports say that insurance costs for ships transiting the area have jumped in recent days, amounting to increases in the tens of thousands of dollars for larger ships like oil tankers.

US officials say they plan to build an international coalition to protect ships in the area, with the US Special Envoy for Yemen, Tim Lenderking, saying on Thursday that Washington wanted the "broadest possible" maritime coalition to signal to the Yemenis that attacks would not be tolerated.

Yemen’s Ansarullah movement has dismissed US plans to establish a maritime task force in the Red Sea to protect the passage of Israel-bound merchant vessels.

Yemen has vowed they will continue with their attacks until Israel stops its onslaught against the Gaza Strip, which has so far killed around 19,000 people, mostly women and children.

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has said Yemeni strikes against ships heading to the Israeli-occupied territories send a message to the West that they should stop the ongoing carnage or expect the crisis to expand across the region.

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UN condemns Israeli regime’s ‘organized torture’ against Palestinians

News Network

November 30,2025

The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) has condemned the Israeli regime for enforcing a policy of “organized torture” against Palestinians.

In a report published on Friday, CAT stated that the occupying regime enforces a deliberate policy of “organized and widespread torture and ill-treatment” against Palestinian abductees, particularly since October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza.

The committee expressed “deep concern over repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, water-boarding, use of prolonged stress positions [and] sexual violence” inflicted on Palestinians.

Palestinian prisoners were degraded by “being made to act like animals or being urinated on,” systematically denied medical care, and subjected to excessive restraints, “in some cases resulting in amputation,” the report added.

CAT also condemned the routine application of “unlawful combatants law” to justify the prolonged detention without trial of thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children.

More than 10,000 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently held in Israeli prisons, according to Palestinian and international human rights groups, with 3,474 Palestinians in “administrative detention,” meaning they are imprisoned without trial for indefinite periods.

The report highlighted the “high proportion of children who are currently detained without charge or on remand,” noting that while Israel sets the age of criminal responsibility at 12, even younger children have been abducted.

Children designated as security prisoners face severe restrictions on family contact, may be subjected to solitary confinement, and are denied access to education, in clear violation of international law.

The committee further suggested that Israel’s policies across the Occupied Territories constitute collective torture against the Palestinian population.

“A range of policies adopted by Israel in the course of its continued unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading living conditions for the Palestinian population,” the report said.

On Thursday, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas condemned the systematic killing and torture of Palestinian abductees in Israeli prisons, urging international action to halt these abuses.

Citing human rights data, Hamas stated that 94 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli prisons since the start of Tel Aviv’s genocidal war on Gaza.

“This reflects an organized criminal approach that has turned these prisons into direct killing grounds to eliminate our people,” the resistance movement said.

Hamas called on the international community, the UN, and human rights organizations to immediately pressure Israel to end crimes against prisoners and uphold their rights as guaranteed by all international conventions and norms.

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