Fires break out on abandoned oil tanker that Yemen terrorists attacked

Fires broke out Friday on a Greek-flagged oil tanker previously attacked by Yemen’s Houthi terrorists this week, with the vessel now appearing to be adrift in the Red Sea, authorities said.

It wasn’t immediately clear what had happened to the oil tanker Sounion, which had been abandoned by its crew on Thursday and reportedly anchored in place.

The Houthis didn’t immediately acknowledge the fire. The terrorists are suspected to have gone back and attacked at least one other vessel that later sank as part of their monthslong campaign against shipping in the Red Sea over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip that’s disrupted a trade route that typically sees $1 trillion in goods pass through it annually.

A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said American officials were aware of the fires and continued to monitor the situation.

Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor on Friday called on judges to “urgently” rule on his request for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others linked to the Israel-Hamas war, saying the court has jurisdiction.

“It is settled law that the Court has jurisdiction in this situation,” Prosecutor Karim Khan wrote in a 49-page legal brief.

Khan called on a panel of ICC pretrial judges to “urgently render its decisions” on the requests he filed in May for warrants for Netanyahu, his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, and three leaders of Hamas, two of whom have since been killed.

In his May request for arrest warrants, Khan accused Netanyahu, Gallant and three Hamas leaders — Yehya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh — of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel.

Haniyeh and Deif have since been killed. Sinwar, Hamas’ top official in Gaza who masterminded the Oct. 7 attacks, was subsequently named the group’s new leader.

It remains unclear when judges will rule on Khan’s request for warrants.

The Palestinians said Thursday they are planning to introduce a U.N. General Assembly resolution in September enshrining the recent sweeping ruling by the U.N.’s top court that declared Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories unlawful — and setting a time frame for it to end.

The International Court of Justice on July 19 issued an unprecedented, sweeping condemnation of Israel’s rule o ver the lands it captured 57 years ago. It called for the occupation to end and for settlement construction to stop immediately.

Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek all three areas for an independent state.