Burning oil tanker safely towed away from Yemen after rebel attacks, EU says

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Salvagers successfully towed a Greek-flagged oil tanker ablaze for weeks after attacks by Yemen’s Houthi terrorists to a safe area without any oil spill, a European Union naval mission said Monday.

The Sounion reached waters away from Yemen as the Houthis claimed that they shot down another American-made MQ-9 Reaper drone, with video circulating online showing what appeared to be a surface-to-air missile strike and flaming wreckage strewn across the ground.

The two events show the challenges still looming for the world as it tries to mitigate a monthslong campaign by the terrorists over the Israel-Hamas war raging in the Gaza Strip. While the terrorists allowed the Sounion to be moved, they continue to threaten ships moving through the Red Sea, a waterway that once saw $1 trillion in goods move through it a year.

The EU naval mission, known as Operation Aspides, issued a statement via the social platform X announcing the ship had been moved.

The Sounion “has been successfully towed to a safe area without any oil spill,” the EU mission said. “While private stakeholders complete the salvage operation, Aspides will continue to monitor the situation.”

The Houthis had no immediate comment and it wasn’t clear where the vessel was, though it likely was taken north away from Yemen. Salvagers still need to offload some 1 million barrels of crude oil aboard the Sounion, which officials feared could leak into the Red Sea, killing marine life and damaging corals in the waterway.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military said it was aware of the Houthis’ claimed downing of a drone over the country’s southwestern Dhamar province, without elaborating.

In other developments:

— Hundreds of Israeli protesters gathered in central Tel Aviv in a show of anger following reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing to fire his defense minister. Israeli media reported Monday that Netanyahu is set to dismiss Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and replace him with opposition lawmaker Gideon Saar. Netanyahu’s office said that reports of negotiations with Saar were incorrect. But Israeli media said the pair were close to a deal.

— The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says the first round of a polio vaccination campaign in Gaza ended successfully by reaching 90 percent of the children it targeted.

— Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar told Yemen’s Houthi terrorists that their recent missile attack sent a message to Israel. Sinwar’s letter to Abdul-Malek al-Houthi was published by the Houthis’ al-Masirah news channel Monday, a day after a missile fired by the terrorists landed in an open area in central Israel and triggered air raid sirens.

— The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on Monday criticized Israel’s military for attacking schools, humanitarian workers and civilians in Gaza in a sign of growing frustration with its close ally as the war in Gaza approaches its first anniversary. Linda Thomas-Greenfield also reiterated to the U.N. Security Council her “outrage” — and President Joe Biden’s “outrage” — at the death of Turkish-American activist Aysenur Eygi, who was shot and killed during a protest in the West Bank last week “simply for attending a protest.”

— White House senior adviser Amos Hochstein on Monday told Netanyahu and other Israeli officials that intensifying the conflict with Hezbollah on the Israeli-Lebanon border would not help achieve the goal of getting Israelis forced to evacuate back in their homes, according to a U.S. official.