Attack by Houthi rebels target ship in Red Sea as Gaza war intensifies

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 US military drone flying over the country.

The attack Tuesday morning took place some 110 kilometres 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 travelling through a waterway that once saw USD 1 trillion a year of cargo pass through it.

A captain on a ship saw four splashes near his vessel, the British military's .