Houthi rebels hijack cargo ship coming to India

Before the incident, the Houthi group had warned of attacks on Israeli ships. A spokesperson for the Houthi rebels said that all ships sailing on behalf of Israel would be targeted.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the ship does not belong to him and there are no Israeli or Indian citizens on board. According to Qatari media house Aljazeera, this cargo ship belongs to Britain and is operated by a Japanese company.

Only Israeli businessman has partnership in the ship
According to Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the ship sailing under the flag of Bahamas is registered in the name of a British company. Israeli businessman Abraham Ungar is its partial shareholder. At present it was given on lease to a Japanese company.

According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, citizens of Ukraine, Bulgaria, Philippines and Mexico are on board the ship. At the same time, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office called it a terrorist incident and blamed Iran for it.

At the same time, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saari has said that they are handling all the hostages on the ship with Islamic principles and methods. They have again threatened to target Israeli ships in the Red Sea.

Netanyahu expressed concern, said – shipping lines will be affected
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has called it an attack on an international ship by Iran. He said this is another act of terrorism from Iran. This is a major attack on the people of the Free World. Apart from this it also affects the world's shipping lines. Due to this, there is natural concern about the safety of this route.

Before the attack, Iran-backed Houthi spokesman Yahya Sariya said on his Telegram channel that the group would target all ships owned or operated by Israeli companies or sailing under the Israeli flag.

Who are the Houthi rebels?
Civil war started in Yemen in 2014. Its root is the Shia-Sunni dispute. According to the Carnegie Middle East Center report, there was a long-standing dispute between the two communities, which turned into civil war with the beginning of the Arab Spring in 2011. In 2014, Shia rebels opened a front against the Sunni government.

This government was led by President Abdrabbhu Mansour Hadi. Hadi seized power in February 2012 from former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had been in power for a long time after the Arab Spring. Hadi was struggling to bring stability to the country amid change. At the same time, the army split and the separatist Houthis mobilized in the south.

In the race for dominance in Arab countries, Iran and Saudi also jumped into this civil war. On one hand, Houthi rebels got support from Shia dominated country Iran. So the government of Sunni majority country Saudi Arabia.

Within no time, the rebels known as Houthi captured a large part of the country. In 2015, the situation had become such that the rebels had forced the entire government into exile.