Does video on social media show that Houthi rebels in Yemen recently captured a ship from the United Arab Emirates carrying military equipment bound for Israel? No, that's not true: The video shows a press conference that took place on January 3, 2022, during which a Houthi rebel spokesman showed pictures of a captured UAE-flagged ship that he claimed was carrying weapons to Yemen.
The claim appeared in a video on TikTok on November 7, 2023, with the caption (translated from Arabic to English by Lead Stories staff):
Yemen captures an Emirati ship heading to support Israel
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed Dec 6 15:21:56 2023 UTC)
Lead Stories searched for Arabic keywords describing the video, such as "Yemen Houthis Captures UAE ship; Brg. General Yahya Saree," and found the video's original posting.
The video and photos shown in the post predate the current conflict between Israel and Hamas, which started on October 7, 2023, by more than a year. They show Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree conducting a press briefing on January 3, 2022, to announce that Houthi forces had captured a UAE-flagged ship carrying military equipment bound for Yemen, as part of a Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi rebels. During the press conference, the spokesman shared video of the captured ship and the military equipment that he claimed was found on the ship.
A similar post on TikTok is a video (archived here) using the same pictures displayed during the January 2022 Houthi press briefing and making a similar claim (as translated):
Breaking, Yemen captures an Emirati ship carrying military equipment bound for Israel.
