Suspected Yemen Houthi rebel attack targets ship in Red Sea

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - A suspected attack Tuesday by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted a ship in the Red Sea, likely marking their first assault on commercial shipping in weeks as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to become a regional conflict.

The attack comes as Israeli ground forces entered Lebanon after days of Israeli airstrikes that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other top leaders and the earlier explosions of sabotaged electronic devices used by the Shiite militia. The Houthis had threatened "escalating military operations" targeting Israel on Monday after they apparently shot down a U.S. military drone flying over the country.

The attack Tuesday morning took place off the port city of Hodeida in the Red Sea, which has become a battlefield for shippers since the Houthis began their campaign targeting ships traveling through a waterway that once saw $1 trillion a year of cargo pass through it.

A captain on a ship saw four "splashes" near his vessel, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said in a warning. That likely would have been missiles or drones launched at the vessel.

"All crew are safe and the vessel is proceeding to (its) next port of call," the UKMTO said.

The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack. However, they sometimes take hours or days to acknowledge one of their assaults.

Houthis have targeted more than 80 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October. They have seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have included Western military vessels.

The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel's campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.

The last attack on a merchant ship by the Houthis came on Sept. 2.

The Houthis claimed an attack targeted American warships last week. The rebels fired more than a half dozen ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles and two drones at three U.S. ships that were traveling through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but all were intercepted by the Navy destroyers, a U.S. official said Friday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet publicly released.

The Houthis also continue to launch missiles targeting Israel, drawing retaliatory airstrikes from the Israelis this weekend on the port city of Hodeida.