YEMEN claimed responsibility today for an attack on a Dutch-flagged cargo ship, saying its owners had violated “the entry ban to the ports of occupied Palestine.”

Monday’s attack on the Minervagracht was the most serious assault in months by Yemen’s Houthi government on shipping it says is linked to Israel, actions it takes in solidarity with Palestinians resisting genocide in Gaza and illegal occupation in the West Bank.

The ship was left ablaze and adrift, its 19-member crew — who hailed from the Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka and Ukraine — had to be evacuated, with two sustaining injury.

Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said Amsterdam-based Spliethoff was shipping goods to Israel. The US Navy-overseen Joint Maritime Information Centre said the ship itself had no ties to Israel but then issued a note saying it was reviewing this.

Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping over the last two years provoked an intense US bombing campaign against Yemen, but this was abandoned after a few weeks.