17 Filipinos among 25 Galaxy Leader crew members freed by Yemen’s Houthis

The rebels hijacked the Israeli-linked vessel in November 2023 to express solidarity with Gaza

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Crew members of the merchant ship Galaxy Leader at Sanaa airport in Yemen on January 22. Photo: SABA/AFP

Published: 9:59am, 23 Jan 2025

Yemen’s Houthi rebels said on 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-Gaza war.

The move by the Iranian-backed Houthis marks their latest effort to de-escalate their attacks following a ceasefire in Gaza. It comes as the White House announced US President Donald Trump was reinstating a terrorism designation he made on the group late in his first term that had been revoked by former president Joe Biden.

Trump issued an executive order on Wednesday that sets in motion a process for re-establishing the foreign terrorist organisation designation. Biden lifted the designation early in his term, citing the humanitarian threat that the sanctions posed to ordinary Yemenis.

The rebels said they released the sailors after mediation by Oman, a sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula that has long been an interlocutor with the Houthis.

Oman’s foreign ministry later confirmed that the crew had flown from Sanaa to Muscat aboard an Omani air force plane.

The Houthis also said Hamas separately requested the release of the ship’s crew of 25, who included mariners from the Philippines, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Mexico.