Yemen's Houthis claim attack on Norwegian tanker in tense Middle East
By Nadine Awadalla and Terje Solsvik
DUBAI/OSLO (Reuters) -Yemen's Houthis said on Tuesday they carried out a military operation against a Norwegian commercial tanker in their latest protest against Israel's bombardment of Gaza, underlining the risks of a conflict that has shaken the Middle East.
The Iran-aligned group hit the tanker, the STRINDA, with a rocket because it was delivering crude oil to an Israeli terminal and after its crew ignored all warnings, Houthi military spokesperson Yehia Sarea said in a statement.
But the tanker's owner, Norway's Mowinckel Chemical Tankers, said the vessel was headed to Italy with a cargo of palm oil to be used in biofuels. It was not planning to stop in Israel, a company's spokesperson told Reuters.
The Houthis have waded into the Israel-Hamas conflict — which has spread around the region since Oct. 7 — attacking vessels in vital shipping lanes and firing drones and missiles at Israel more than 1,000 miles from their seat of power in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.
On Saturday, they said they would target all ships heading to Israel, regardless of their nationality, and warned international shipping companies against dealing with Israeli ports.
The Gaza conflict has already spread to other parts of the region, with Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah trading fire and Iranian-backed militias attacking Iraqi bases that hold American forces.
French frigate FREMM Languedoc intercepted and destroyed a drone that was threatening the STRINDA in a complex aerial attack originating from Yemen, the French defence ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
It said the attack had taken place in the evening of Monday Dec. 11 and had caused a fire on board the tanker, which was sailing under the
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