Iran-Backed Fighters Parade Hostages as Trump Faces New Crisis
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The Iranian-backed Yemeni Houthis have issued stern warnings to vessels defying their Red Sea blockade against Israel, confirming in a video Monday that they were holding several crew members of a cargo ship hostage.
The crew of the Eternity C, one of two commercial vessels sank earlier in July, included mainly Filipinos, according to the Philippine Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), which said 16 were missing after the attack and called for the immediate release of the "kidnapped" seafarers.
Newsweek has contacted the U.S. Embassy in Yemen and the Philippines' Foreign Ministry for comment.
Why It Matters
The attack on the Eternity C, in the same week the Houthis attacked the Magic Seas, signaled a show of force by the Iran-backed militant group, which is disrupting a key global trade route despite a heavy campaign of U.S. airstrikes in March ordered by President Donald Trump.
Trump said the group would be "annihilated" and promised to restore freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. The U.S. is also imposing sanctions aimed at curbing Iran's proxy influence in the region.
A renewed blockade of the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait by the Houthis may once again threaten international shipping in general and U.S. economic interests in particular, forcing Trump's hand in the long-restive region.
FILE - Houthi supporters attend a rally against the U.S.-led airstrikes on Yemen and in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Yemen, in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, Feb. 09, 2024. Despite a month...
FILE - Houthi supporters attend a rally against the U.S.-led airstrikes on Yemen and in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Yemen, in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, Feb. 09, 2024. Despite a month of U.S.-led airstrikes, Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have launched attacks seriously damaging a ship in the crucial Bab el-Mandeb Strait and apparently bringing down an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars. More
Osamah Abdulrahman/AP Photo
What To Know
In the six-minute video released by the Houthis, a distorted voice asked a crew member if he knew the ship was headed to Israel. The crew responded that they were assigned to load fertilizer there for delivery to China.
Marc Jayson, the ship's third officer, said the captain had informed the crew they were headed to the Israeli port of Eilat from Somalia. "We asked if there was any bonus for sailing to a high-risk area," he said, adding they received no further details before the attack.
Another crew member said the captain had ordered all satellite communications turned off as the ship approached Eilat—a claim the Houthis used to justify their attack against all commercial vessels stopping at Israeli ports. .
Filipino Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said an initial investigation found the ship had violated maritime safety protocols by crossing the Red Sea twice—via Egypt, Somalia, and Jeddah—despite a DMW ban on Filipino seafarers boarding vessels transiting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, according to the official Philippine News Agency on July 10.
In November 2023, the Houthis seized the Galaxy Leader while it was sailing from Turkey to India, detaining its multinational crew, including more than a dozen Filipino seafarers, before being released in January 2025.
What People Are Saying
Houthis' military media statement on Telegram, translated from Arabic: "Maritime navigation is safe for all except for Israeli ships, those headed to occupied Palestinian ports, or vessels operated by companies that have violated the blockade—until the aggression and blockade on Gaza cease."
Aleksei Galaktonin, identified in the Houthi video as an electrical engineer on board the Eternity C, said: "Captain didn't respond to the authority of Yemen. Maybe that's why they started attacking."
U.S. Embassy in Yemen in statement on X on July 9: "The Houthis continue to show the world why the United States was right to label them as a terrorist organization."
What Happens Next
Trump has other pressing priorities globally, including the ongoing war in Ukraine and a trade deal with China, the world's second-largest economy. However, he may be compelled to intervene once more in the Middle East if U.S. shipping costs rise as a result of another blockade.
It remains unclear if or when the Houthis will release the Filipino crew members
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