Several U.S. Navy warships were targeted in a "complex attack" by the Iran-backed Houthi in the Red Sea, according to the Department of Defense. "We did see a complex attack launched from the Houthis that ranged from cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles," said Sabrina Singh, deputy press secretary for the Defense Department. Houthi forces said they had damaged three U.S. Navy warships in the assault involving 23 missiles and bomber drones. The Defense Department denied that any U.S. military ships were struck. Newsweek has contacted the Pentagon for comment. "My understanding is that those were either engaged and shot down or failed," Singh said of the missile attacks, adding that there were no injuries to U.S. service members.
The military news site Stars and Stripes said that U.S. Central Command, overseeing military operations in the Middle East, along with the Navy Office of Information, confirmed that Navy forces successfully intercepted the missiles. The Houthis' military spokesperson said in a televised speech that the ships were targeted while transiting the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. This is a critical waterway connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, located between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, where the USS Abraham Lincoln and its carrier strike group are located. The strike group includes three destroyers: USS Spruance, USS Stockdale, and USS O'Kane.
Singh declined to confirm whether the destroyers were the intended targets of the Houthi missile attack. "Sometimes, it's hard to tell whether they're being shot in the vicinity of a U.S. ship or targeting another vessel. We always take measures for our self-defense, so I can't really tell you the intended target," Singh said. "We did what we had to do to protect our forces, and, at the end of the day, no ship was hit, no damage, and no injuries to our personnel," she added.
The Houthis of Yemen have carried out a series of strikes on U.S. warships and commercial vessels in the Red Sea since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip last year. U.S. warships are regularly assigned to intercept such threats and often conduct strikes against rebel forces in Yemen. For example, in December, the USS Carney shot down 14 Houthi drones that were targeting the guided-missile destroyer. The Houthis have said that more attacks will take place if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not stop offensives in Gaza and Lebanon.
Recently, the Houthis launched a missile into central Israel. The attack reportedly caused travelers at Ben-Gurion International Airport to rush to shelters for safety, with air-raid sirens sounding in Tel Aviv and nearby regions. Israel retaliated on the Houthis a few days later. The Israeli strikes killed at least four people and wounded 29, the Houthi-run Health Ministry said in a statement, and residents said the bombing had caused power outages in most parts of the port city of Hodeidah.
Israel's military said in a statement that dozens of aircraft, including fighter jets, had attacked power plants and a seaport in Hodeidah and the port of Ras Issa. It was the second such Israeli attack on Yemen in just over two months. In July, Israeli warplanes struck Houthi military targets near Hodeidah after a Yemeni drone hit Tel Aviv and killed one man. "Over the past year, the Houthis have been operating under the direction and funding of Iran, and in cooperation with Iraqi militias in order to attack the State of Israel, undermine regional stability, and disrupt global freedom of navigation," the military statement said.
Biblical Connection: While Israel is attempting to end its problems in the region with Hamas and Hezbollah, as long as Iran and their proxies like the Houthis continue there will continue to be strike in the region. Could all this strife be leading to the Gog-Magog war? Only time will tell.
PRAY: Pray that the hostilities between Israel, Iran and Iran’s proxies would be able to end, that Iran would stop its attempts to destroy Israel, and the peace could come to the region.