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DUBAI: A missile attack by Yemen’s Houthis set a ship ablaze in the Gulf of Aden on Monday, officials said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The attack hit the Netherlands-flagged cargo ship Minervagracht, which had been targeted in a failed assault last week as well by the Iranian-backed Houthis, according to the French military’s Maritime Information, Cooperation and Awareness Center.

“At this time, the vessel is reported to be on fire,” the center said. A “warship is heading to the scene.”

Local Yemeni media reported a possible ballistic missile launch from territory controlled by the Houthis. The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported the attack, as did the private security firm Ambrey, which similarly identified the ship as the Minervagracht.

The Houthis did not immediately claim the possible attack. However, it can take hours or even days before the rebels claim their assaults.

The ship’s owner, the Amsterdam-based firm Spliethoff, did not respond to questions from The Associated Press. It wasn’t clear why the Houthis twice targeted the Minervagracht.

The Houthis have been launching missile and drone attacks on Israel and on ships in the Red Sea in response to the war in Gaza, saying they were acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.

The US Navy-overseen Joint Maritime Information Center earlier said that the shipper had “no Israeli affiliations.”

The Houthi attack widens the area of the rebels’ recent assaults, as the last recorded attack on a commercial vessel in the Gulf of Aden before the Minervagracht came in August 2024.

Their attacks over the past two years have upended shipping in the Red Sea, through which about $1 trillion of goods passed each year before the war.

The Houthis stopped their attacks during a brief ceasefire in the war. They later became the target of an intense weekslong campaign of airstrikes ordered by US President Donald Trump before he declared a ceasefire had been reached with the rebels. The Houthis sank two vessels in July, killing at least four on board, with others believed to be held by the rebels.

The attack on Monday comes as Israel intensifies the war in Gaza, targeting Gaza City in a new ground offensive. Meanwhile, tensions remain high as United Nations sanctions have been reimposed on Iran over Tehran’s battered nuclear program. Israel launched a 12-day war against the Islamic Republic in June in which the Americans bombed three Iranian atomic sites.

LONDON: New Zealand’s failure to recognize Palestinian statehood has been met with criticism across the country from politicians and activists.

The government was expected to recognize Palestine in line with the likes of the UK, Canada and Australia at the UN General Assembly in New York. However, Foreign Minister Winston Peters did not take that step in his address on Saturday.

“With a war raging, Hamas remaining the de facto government of Gaza and no clarity on next steps, too many questions remain about the future state of Palestine for it to be prudent for New Zealand to announce recognition at this time,” he said.

It came as a surprise to many after Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s previous assertion that recognition by New Zealand was a matter of “when, not if.”

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark criticized the decision not to recognize Palestine, saying it places New Zealand “very much on the wrong side of history.”

She told broadcaster RNZ: “As more and more countries move to see that the recognition of Palestine is part of a process of moving towards a solution, New Zealand is lagging behind for reasons which make very little sense at all.”

Elsewhere, members of Protestant and Roman Catholic clergies chained themselves to the immigration minister’s office in protest.

Earlier this month, thousands took to the streets of Auckland to demand that the coalition government recognize Palestinian statehood.

The Justice for Palestine human rights group said the inaction shows that New Zealand is “a country confused about its position in the world.”

The Green Party called the government’s position “a stain.”

Labour foreign affairs spokesperson Peeni Henare said: “Recognition of Palestine and sanctions on Israel send a clear message to Israel and the world: New Zealand will not stand by while Israel disregards human life and dignity, and international law.”

He added: “Luxon had a chance to stand up for what is right, but he failed.”

Palestine has now been recognized by 157 of the 193 UN member states.