Yemen's Houthi rebels said Wednesday they released the crew of the Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier seized in November 2023 at the start of their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Yemen's Houthi rebels signal they will limit attacks in the Red Sea corridor to Israeli-affiliated ships.

Yemen's Houthi rebels on Monday (20 January) announced a major shift in their operations in the Red Sea corridor, signalling that they will cease targeting non-Israeli ships following the fragile ceasefire resolution in the Gaza Strip.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have signaled they will limit their attacks in the Red Sea corridor to only Israeli-affiliated ships as a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip takes hold.

The second reason is politics. The Houthis have made it clear that any re-opening of the route is contingent on the modalities and progress of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the implementation of which began on Sunday. “There are still many ifs and buts to the situation,” the executive said.

An oil tanker that burned for weeks in the Red Sea and threatened a massive oil spill has been “successfully” salvaged.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they have released the crew of the Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier seized in November 2023 at the start of their campaign in the Red Sea corridor. The rebels said they released the sailors after mediation by Oman.

Yemen's Houthis will limit their attacks on commercial vessels to Israeli-linked ships after the Gaza ceasefire came into effect, according to the Yemen-based Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center.

Yemen's Houthis have indicated they will restrict their Red Sea attacks to vessels linked with Israel amid a ceasefire in Gaza.