IDF says it downed drone from Yemen, as Houthis attack ships in Gulf of Aden

The Israel Defense Forces said Monday morning that a drone launched from Yemen had been successfully shot down over the Mediterranean Sea.

According to the IDF, the UAV was intercepted by a Navy missile boat before it reached Israeli territory. No sirens were activated in the incident and no injuries or damage were reported.

The attack came as an American official said Yemen’s Houthi rebels had launched multiple drones and a missile at three commercial ships being escorted in the Gulf of Aden by United States Navy ships.

The American official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations, said US Navy destroyers, a Navy helicopter, and a French Air Force aircraft shot down four of the drones and the missile. The three US-affiliated flagged ships were sailing east toward Djibouti.

There were also no injuries or damage reported in that attack.

A Houthi military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, said Tuesday that the rebels had targeted American supply ships and two US destroyers.

The incident came a week after a Houthi drone fired from Yemen hit a residential building in the central Israeli city of Yavne, causing damage but no injuries. At the time, the Israeli Air Force said sirens were not activated because the drone had not been classified as a clear threat.

The Houthi rebels, part of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” against Israel and the US, have fired hundreds of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones at Israel since the outbreak of the Gaza war, one of which killed a man in Tel Aviv.

That ongoing conflict began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led a massive cross-border attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.

Israel has twice bombed Houthi targets in retaliation for ballistic missile and drone attacks.

The Houthis have also waged a harassment campaign against shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden during the Gaza war, severely disrupting the vital trade route.

Emanuel Fabian and AP contributed to this report.