DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Yemen’s Houthi rebels said Wednesday they released the crew of the Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier seized in November 2023 at the start of their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war.

The move by the Iranian-backed Houthis marks their latest effort to de-escalate their attacks following a ceasefire in Gaza. It comes as the White House announced U.S. President Donald Trump was reinstating a terrorism designation he made on the group late in his first term that had been revoked by President Joe Biden.

Trump issued an executive order on Wednesday for the foreign terrorist organization designation. Biden lifted the designation early in his term, citing the humanitarian threat. The rebels said they released the sailors after mediation by Oman, a sultanate that’s long been an interlocutor with the Houthis. Oman did not immediately acknowledge the release, though an Omani Royal Air Force jet took a flight to Yemen earlier Wednesday and took off again about an hour after the Houthi announcement.

— The Associated Press