The Houthis, a Yemeni Shiite rebel group supported by Iran, claimed on Tuesday, December 26, to have “carried out a targeted operation against a commercial vessel” in the Red Sea, identified as the Unitedand having launched “drones against military targets” in southern Israel. The Israeli army, for its part, declared that it had intercepted “a hostile air target” who was heading towards his territory.
Since the start of the war on October 7 between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip, rebels have increased attacks in the Red Sea against ships sailing off the coast of Yemen with alleged links to Israel, in solidarity with the Islamic movement and the Palestinian enclave.
In recent weeks, several missiles and drones have been shot down by American, French and British warships patrolling the area.
A hundred attacks in a few weeks
According to the Pentagon, the Houthis, who control entire swaths of Yemeni territory, including the capital, Sanaa, have already launched around a hundred drone and missile attacks, targeting a total of ten merchant ships involving more than thirty-five countries.
These attacks, which threaten to disrupt the flow of global maritime trade on a strategic route, have pushed the United States to set up a multinational maritime protection force in the Red Sea.
Earlier in the day, explosions were heard and missiles seen near a ship in the Red Sea near the rebel-held western port of Hodeida, the maritime security agency said British UKMTO, without reporting any casualties or damage.
Two other explosions sounded shortly before near another ship, again off the coast of Hodeida, the British maritime agency said, without reporting any damage or casualties. The boat continued its journey.