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.

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.

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.

Houthi, said the Iran-aligned group will monitor the implementation of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas and will continue its attacks on ships in the Red Sea if it is breached.

Israel and Hamas announced a ceasefire on Wednesday, leading to speculation that the Yemen-based Houthis — who began attacking commercial ships in late 2023 ostensibly in retaliation for Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip — might call off the broadsides for good.

Yemen's Houthi rebels announced they will direct attacks only towards Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea following a Gaza ceasefire. They halted previous sanctions on other vessels, having targeted about 100 since November 2023 amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

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 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 took hold. The Houthis made the announcement in an email sent to shippers and others on Sunday.