Does a video on TikTok show Houthi rebels in Yemen attacking and setting on fire a U.S. warship in the Red Sea in early January 2024? No, that's not true: The footage depicts a past attack by the Houthis more than seven years ago. The post used a 2016 video to inaccurately portray it as a current event.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on TikTok on January 1, 2024, with the caption (translated from Arabic into English by Lead Stories staff):
Yemeni Naval Forces (Houthi) attack an American warship in the Red Sea
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Monday, January 12, 17:34 2024 UTC)
Since the start of the Hamas-Israel conflict on October 7, 2023, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, known for their longstanding support of the Palestinian cause, have escalated their attacks in the Red Sea. They are specifically targeting ships owned by countries or companies perceived to be supportive of Israel (archived here) in the ongoing conflict.
The post has a video of the Emirati-flagged ship Swift, which came under attack by Houthi rebels on October 1, 2016. The assault was reported by the Houthi-run TV station Al-Masira, and the footage was broadcast. Numerous regional and local news outlets (archived here) also reported the incident. The rebel group asserted that the ship was transporting military equipment used by the Saudi-led coalition in the conflict against Yemen.
In contrast, the Emirati State News Agency (WAM) (archived here) wrote on X, Twitter at the time, that the vessel was on a humanitarian mission, transporting aid, when it was attacked by the rebels. WAM released images illustrating the damage sustained by the ship.
