The Houthis Just Raised the Stakes Again — And Israel Are Freaking Out

The Houthis targeted the Dutch‑flagged freighter Minervagracht in the Gulf of Aden, striking it with a missile that set the hull ablaze and forced 19 crew members to abandon ship, two of whom were injured before being rescued and transferred to Djibouti. The attack, part of the Houthi movement’s campaign against Israel’s Gaza blockade, was justified by the Houthis as a response to the alleged trading of the ship’s Dutch owner with Israeli ports. Western governments condemned the strike as terrorism, while the Houthis framed it as enforcement of a self‑declared ban on navigation to Israeli ports and companies that trade with Israel. The incident underscores the Houthi’s broader strategy to pressure the international community by turning the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden into extensions of the Gaza conflict.