DOD says US Navy, Israeli-owned ship not intended target of Houthi missiles
The US Department of Defense (DOD) says that the US Navy and an Israeli-owned cargo ship that were struck by alleged Houthi missiles this week were not the intended targets.
The MS HELIOS RAY, owned by an Israeli company, was struck off the coast of Yemen on Tuesday. The US Navy responded to the incident by dispatching ships to investigate the attack.
The DOD says analysis of the attack site indicates that the missiles were not intended to target either the US Navy or the Israeli cargo ship. The DOD is further investigating the incident to determine more information about the attack and who was responsible.
The US and Israel have strongly condemned the attack and accused the Houthi rebels of responsibility. The Houthis have not formally claimed responsibility for the attack, but they are widely believed to have been behind it.
If true, the attack would represent a dangerous escalation of the conflict between the Houthis and their regional enemies, which include both the US and Israel. The US and Israel have recently ramped up their involvement in the Yemeni Civil War, which has been raging since 2015.