Yemen Houthi rebels fire a missile at a US warship, escalating worst Mideast sea conflict in decades

Table Of Content

• Israeli airstrike in Gaza’s south kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children
• US strikes anti-ship cruise missile in Yemen
• U.S. Responds to Missile Attacks, Targets 3 Radar Sites on Yemen’s Coast
• Cost and Value in Air and Missile Defense Intercepts
• Steve Bannon Fires Four-Word Rant at Ukraine Aid Supporters

The U.S. has tried to temper its descriptions of the Houthis’ strikes, and said it is difficult to determine what exactly the Houthis are trying to hit in part try to prevent the conflict from becoming a wider regional war. The Carney attack represents the first time the Houthis directly targeted a U.S. warship since the rebels began their assaults on shipping in October, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity because no authorization had been given to discuss the incident. He said if the conflict escalates into a regional war and Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups fully join in, the Houthis will most likely keep launching missiles and drones at Israel. For the first time since the outbreak of the war with Hamas, Israel used its “Arrow” defence system which is designed to take out ballistic missiles outside of the Earth’s atmosphere, according to its military.

Israeli airstrike in Gaza’s south kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children

The efforts, though, have only seemed to inflame the terrorist group — which now says it will expand its targeting of ships to those passing through the Indian Ocean as it starts training for a possible US-UK  invasion, The Sun reported. No damage or injuries were reported, and Israeli forces say the missile was tracked by the Air Force throughout the incident. The president is currently en route to Los Angeles, where he's expected to participate in campaign fundraisers. The senior administration official stressed that the US does not want escalation, and that the strikes are in direct response to the actions by the Iranian-backed Houthis. US President Joe Biden gave the green light for Saturday's strikes earlier in the week, according to two senior administration officials. The IDF acknowledged that “a number of launches” were identified crossing from Lebanon to northern Israel, but said no injuries were reported and that it struck the sources of the fire.

US strikes anti-ship cruise missile in Yemen

In a separate joint statement with the US-led coalition, the UK said that Houthi attacks constituted “an international challenge” and issued a warning to Houthi leadership. US forces determined the cruise missile presented an "imminent threat" to US Navy ships and other vessels in the region. Saudi Arabia, which supports the Yemeni government-in-exile that the Houthis are fighting, sought to distance itself from the attacks on Houthi sites as it tries to maintain a delicate detente with Iran and a cease-fire it has in Yemen. The Saudi-led, U.S.-backed war in Yemen that began in 2015 has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday it had tracked a "suspicious aerial target" which it confirmed was a cruise missile, The Times of Israel reported. Prior to the attack on Monday, all of the missiles Houthis have launched were intercepted by American coalition forces, the IDF or neighboring countries like Jordan, according to WION.

U.S. Responds to Missile Attacks, Targets 3 Radar Sites on Yemen’s Coast

It reviews the events and trends that have shaped this part of the war, the strategy behind Houthi missile attacks, and how Houthi militants have acquired these weapons. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Houthis, announced on October 31 that the movement launched a “large number” of rockets, ballistic missiles and drones towards Israel. A U.S. Navy warship in the northern Red Sea on Thursday shot down three cruise missiles and several drones launched from Yemen that the Pentagon said might have been headed toward Israel. “Information about these engagements is still being processed and we cannot say for certain what these missiles and drones were targeting but they were launched from Yemen, heading north along the Red Sea, potentially towards targets in Israel,” he added. The USS Carney, which is currently stationed in the Northern Red Sea, successfully intercepted three cruise missiles and several drones that had been launched by Houthi forces in Yemen, according to Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon's press secretary. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels say their strikes on ships in the Red Sea as in response to Israel's military campaign in Gaza.

Navy may have to position more ships in the Red Sea if the U.S. commits to protecting Israel from a southern attack said Steve Ganyard, an ABC News contributor and a former Pentagon official. The missiles fired by the Houthis were engaged by SM2 missiles carried aboard the USS Carney, a U.S. official told ABC News. No information was released about what weapons platform aboard the Carney brought down the 8 drones.

As part of the exercise, the group succeeded in luring Americans and Brits into large minefields, where dozens would be killed, the Sun reports. Footage released by Yemeni media showed Houthi forces carrying out military drills that simulated a violent and widespread confrontation against enemy forces that landed in Yemen, according to the UK outlet. President Biden has repeatedly warned Iran and its regional allies not to escalate tensions by getting involved. Iran has long provided support for Hamas in the form of training and ammunition, but the U.S. has said there's no clear evidence that Iran was directly involved in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. "But we stand ready and prepared to defend our partners and our interests, and we will act to do so."

Last week, Houthi leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi was quoted as saying that if the U.S. directly intervened in the Gaza conflict his group would respond by firing drones and missiles, and take other military options. The preliminary U.S. assessment was that the USS Carney was not the target of any of the Houthi missiles or drones, according to multiple U.S. officials. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. "These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S. Navy and merchant vessels," CENTCOM said in a statement. In an effort to stop the attacks, the US and the United Kingdom have carried out a series of strikes against Houthi targets. The Israeli Defense Forces also confirmed Tuesday it tracked a “suspicious aerial target,” which it later confirmed was a cruise missile, according to the Times of Israel.

missile strikes in Yemen

The missiles and drones were launched by pro-Iranian Houthi rebels in Yemen amid a flurry of drone attacks against American troops in Iraq and Syria over the past three days, General Ryder said. The incidents underscored the risks that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas could spiral into a wider war. “We cannot say for certain what these missiles and drones were targeting, but they were launched from Yemen heading north along the Red Sea, potentially towards targets in Israel,” Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, told reporters. The United States yesterday conducted sea-launched cruise missile strikes against three radar sites on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters in a news briefing today. “The crew of the guided missile destroyer USS Carney , operating in the northern Red Sea earlier today, shot down three land-attack cruise missiles and several drones that were launched by Houthi forces in Yemen,” he said. The Missile War in Yemen is the first comprehensive review of missile and missile defense activity in the ongoing Yemen conflict.

Houthis Not Only Iran-Backed Group With Cruise Missiles That Can Reach Israel - Forbes

Houthis Not Only Iran-Backed Group With Cruise Missiles That Can Reach Israel.

Posted: Wed, 20 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

But the footage appeared to show that the Houthis used a variant of their Zolfaghar mid-range ballistic missile, the Quds cruise missile and the Samad drone. Shouts of “death to Israel” and “death to America” can be heard as ballistic missiles are launched into the atmosphere. The Houthis, who have a history of proudly displaying their latest military achievements and had a major parade in late September, released a video of launching many missiles and drones after their initial announcement. The Houthi movement, also known as Ansarallah, has been in control of large parts of Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, since late 2014.

Their increasingly capable surface-to-air missiles, furthermore, have downed a number of coalition aircraft and at least three U.S. drones. On October 9, the USS Mason fired two Standard Missile-2 Block IV interceptors and an Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile in response to multiple cruise missiles launched at it and the USS Ponce off the coast of Yemen. The attack comes after a cruise missile launched by Houthi rebels in Yemen struck a UAE vessel on October 1. The missile attack included two missiles, one confirmed to have hit the water without an intercept and the other potentially having been intercepted by an SM-2, though this is unconfirmed. The first strikes on the U.S. ships were accompanied by the launch of ballistic missiles into Saudi Arabia, including the longest range attack recorded during the conflict targeting central Saudi Arabia.

At a press briefing Saturday, Hagari said Israel has been trying to stop Hezbollah's “supply chain of ammunition and missiles,” which he alleged were being smuggled from Iran to Syria and then to Lebanon. The strike is a part of the US military's effort to deter the Houthis from further disrupting the global shipping lanes in the Red Sea. Just as some of the Houthi missiles appear to have fallen short of their marks due to the relatively long distance between Yemen and Israel, it could also be potentially costly and complicated for Israel to respond with sustained aerial strikes. Tzachi Hanegbi, the Israeli national security adviser, said the Houthi attacks were “intolerable” but declined to elaborate on what exactly an Israeli response might look like.

The incident could represent the first shots taken by the U.S. military in defense of Israel since the country was attacked by the Palestinian militant group on Oct. 7. They mark the third set of strikes as part of a coalition that includes the United States, the UK, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark and New Zealand. Mohammed Al Bukhaiti, a top member of the Houthi Political Council, said the group will continue its military operations until the siege on Gaza is lifted and vowed to respond to the latest US and UK strikes in Yemen. Hagari also said the Israeli military has deployed three divisions along the Lebanese border since October 7 -- instead of the usual single division to try to thwart Hezbollah's capabilities and protect people in northern Israel.

The United States has boosted its military presence in the region since the start of the Israel-Hamas war nearly two weeks ago.

Later Friday, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Operations, which oversees Mideast waterways, acknowledged a vessel had been struck by a missile and was on fire in the Gulf of Aden. The civil war in Yemen between the government of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and the Houthi movement is a conflict deeply rooted in the country’s decades-old political divides. Yet since the Saudi-led intervention in 2015 to support the Hadi government, the war has broadened to become an arena of competition between Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran.