‘Houthi’ missiles are shot down by a US naval warship over the Red Sea, perhaps stopping an attack on Israel

The Pentagon, the United States’ defense department, claimed that its warship had shot down three projectiles, including numerous attack drones, as the continuing Middle East conflict reached its 14th day on Friday. Along with that, there were rumors of drone strikes against American sites in Syria and Iraq.

According to a Reuters story, the Houthi movement in Yemen, which has ties to Iran, fired these missiles into Israeli territory, prompting Washington to up the alert level in the area.

Notably, since Israel started a counteroffensive against Hamas, which resulted in over 2,000 fatalities in Gaza, Iran has been pressing for coordinated Arab action against Israel. The extremist Yemeni group’s most recent action could be connected to Iran’s position on the matter.

The USS Carney, which was engaged in operations in the Red Sea, intercepted these munitions, the Pentagon also reported. It said there had been no incidents of injury.

According to Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, who was reported by Reuters, “We cannot say with certainty what targets these missiles and drones were targeting, but they were launched from Yemen heading north along the Red Sea, potentially towards targets in Israel.”

One officer responded to the query of whether the vessel was targeted by noting, “It did not appear that the warship was the target.”

The US has increased its naval presence in the area in response to the growing unpredictability in the area. According to Reuters, the area already has two aircraft carriers, support ships, and roughly 2000 Marines stationed there.

The US has maintained that these are kept as a deterrent to hostile actors who might try to take advantage of the region’s deteriorating situation, which is witnessing a war between Israel and Hamas as a result of the latter’s brutal militant attack on October 7.