Can the US, Israel stop Yemen’s Houthis from seizing more ships?

On Sunday, Houthi fighters hijacked a cargo ship in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen.

The 189-metre-long (620ft-long) Galaxy Leader car carrier, travelling from Turkey to India, was intercepted by small fast boats and boarded by uniformed, armed personnel.

Other people rappelled from a helicopter to the deck, ordering the crew to alter course to the Yemeni port of Hodeida.

No shots were fired, and the seized ship is a civilian vessel sailing between neutral countries, but the incident still has the potential to trigger a serious escalation in the latest Israel-Palestine conflict.

In the worst-case scenario, it could be the first move in drawing the United States and Iran into direct involvement in the war.