The Yemen rebel group of Houthis seized an Israel-linked ship bound for India on November 19 .
- The ship, Galaxy Leader, was heading from Turkey towards Pipavav in Gujarat, and had no cargo on board.
- Its crew members are from Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Mexico, and the Philippines.
- The ship was hijacked by Houthis in the Red Sea Yemen port of Al-Hudaydah .
- Israel has claimed the ship is British-owned and Japanese-operated while terming the hijack “another Iranian act of terrorism”.
Houthis
- The Houthis are a rebel group locked in a civil war with the Yemen government for almost a decade.
- They are in power in northern Yemen, including the official capital Sanaa. The official government now operates out of Aden.
- The group is named after the Houthi tribe. The Houthis are Zaydi Shias backed by Iran, while the Yemen government has the support of Iran’s biggest rival Saudi Arabia and the West.
- The group’s origins lie in a Zaydi religious revival movement of the early 1990s. Houthis’ support for Palestine stems from a staunch opposition to Israel and the West.
Red Sea
- Red Sea is narrow strip of water extending southeastward from Suez, Egypt, for about 1,200 miles to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects with the Gulf of Aden and thence with the Arabian Sea.
