At least 17 Filipino crew members aboard a cargo ship in the Red Sea were among those taken hostage by Yemen-based Houthi Rebels, a Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) official confirmed Wednesday, Nov. 22.

DFA Undersecretary Eduardo Jose De Vega said the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is now in touch with the families of the Filipino hostages, who were aboard the British-owned, Japanese-operated ship.

The incident, de Vega said, was related to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas as it is feared of spreading to Gaza's neighboring countries, where some rebel groups that are Hamas-sympathizers started taking up arms.

Houthi rebels held the crew hostage as they initially thought the ship was Israeli-owned, de Vega added.

"Nababahala tayo dito. This is not the first time na may na-hostage na ganyan. Meron itong koneksiyon sa giyera ngayon sa Hamas at Israel dahil tinarget nila itong bapor na ito dahil Israeli-owned daw although Japanese 'yung company (We're alarmed. This is not the first time na several crew were taken hostage. This has a connection to the war between Hamas and Israel. They targeted the ship because they thought it was Israeli-owned, although it was under a Japanese company)," he said in an interview with GMA News.

He added that the rebels assured concerned governments that they would not harm any foreign crew members of the vessel.

A meeting with other concerned Philippine agencies and Malacañang was set Wednesday regarding the situation, de Vega said.

A video released by Houthi military media showed its rebels landing on the ship from a military helicopter before taking over the vessel. The Israeli military said the ship departed Turkey bound for India.

NYK Line, the company operating the cargo, said there were 25 people on board, according to Japanese news agency Kyodo News. Other crew members were from Bulgaria, Ukraine, Mexico and Romania, Kyodo added.