"The hijacking of a cargo ship by the Houthis near Yemen in the southern Red Sea is a very grave incident of global consequence. The ship departed Turkey on its way to India, staffed by civilians of various nationalities, not including Israelis. It is not an Israeli ship," the IDF said.
Israel condemns the seizure of the ship and blames it on Iran, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
"Israel strongly condemns the Iranian attack against an international vessel. The ship, which is owned by a British company and is operated by a Japanese firm, was hijacked with Iran guidance by the Yemenite Houthi militia," the statement read.
Earlier in the day, a source in the Ansar Allah movement told Sputnik that they had captured the vessel in the Read Sea, towed it to Yemen's Al Hudaydah port and were interrogating the crew.
"The movement's forces used boats to intercept and board a commercial vessel called Galaxy Leader off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea," the source said.