Suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targets ship in southern Red Sea, officials say

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — An alleged attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels He attacked a ship at the southern end of the Red Sea early Tuesday, officials said, the latest in his campaign of attacks on the war between Israel and Hamas.

The attack comes as Yemen’s main sponsor, Iran, weighs a possible retaliatory attack against Israel over the assassination of Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh in late July, which has renewed fears that a broader regional war could break out across the Middle East.

The Houthi attacks have already disrupted the trillion dollars in goods that flow annually through the maritime route crucial to trade between Asia, Europe and the Middle East, while causing the most intense combat the US Navy has seen since World War II.

The attack occurred about 115 kilometers (70 miles) south of the Houthi-held port city of Hodeidah, the British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations center said. The attack saw the detonation of an explosive near the ship, although “the ship and crew are reported to be safe,” the UKMTO said.

Private security company Ambrey similarly reported the attack, saying the ship saw “two ‘very close’ explosions.”

Although the Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack, it can sometimes take hours or even days for their attacks to be acknowledged. Others have also stated that apparently they have not happened.

The Houthis have attacked more than 70 vessels with missiles and drones in a campaign that has killed four sailors since the war in Gaza began in October. They have seized a boat and sunk two in the time since then. Other missiles and drones have been intercepted by a US-led coalition in the Red Sea or have fallen before reaching their targets.

The rebels maintain that their attacks target ships linked to Israel, the United States or the United Kingdom as part of a campaign they say seeks to force an end to the war. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.

The Houthis have launched drones and missiles towards Israel, including an attack on July 19 that killed one person and injured 10 others in Tel Aviv. Israel responded the next day with airstrikes on the Houthi-controlled port city of Hodeida, which Hit fuel depots and power stations.killing and wounding several people, the rebels claim.

After the attacks, the Houthis stopped their attacks until August 3, when collided with a Liberian-flagged container ship traveling through the Gulf of Aden. An oil tanker flying the Liberian flag sank a particularly intense series of attacks starting on August 8 probably carried out by the rebels.

As Iran threatens retaliation for Haniyeh, the US military has said the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group navigate more quickly to the area. The United States also ordered the guided missile submarine USS Georgia to the Middle East, while the aircraft carrier strike group USS Theodore Roosevelt had been in the Gulf of Oman. Other F-22 fighter jets have flown to the region, while the USS Wasp, a large amphibious assault ship carrying F-35 fighter jets, is in the Mediterranean Sea.