For the third time this week, Yemen-based Houthi rebels Thursday launched missiles at a U.S.-owned merchant vessel, the Pentagon said, the latest in a slew of such attacks from the Iranian-backed militant group on commercial vessels in and around the Red Sea.
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Since the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing at least 1,200 people and sparking the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Houthi rebels, who control large swaths of Yemen, have launched dozens of drone and missile attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in what they have said is an effort to support Palestinians.
After U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, warned for weeks that there would be unspecified “consequences” for the Houthis, the U.S. on Jan. 12, launched the first of what would be several rounds of strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
Despite those missile strikes, the Houthis have vowed to continue their Red Sea assault.