The USS Carney shot down at least three Houthi drones headed in the ship’s direction in the southern Red Sea on Sunday and responded to a distress call from a civilian commercial vessel that was fired upon by a ballistic missile,

The Israeli military said its forces were confronting Hamas fighters across the Gaza Strip, indicating its planned ground offensive in the enclave's refugee-crowded south had begun as Israeli bombing killed and wounded dozens of Palestinians.

The Pentagon says the five armed assailants captured by U.S. forces after seizing a commercial ship near Yemen over the weekend were likely Somali and not Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

An American warship responded to attacks on three commercial ships Sunday in international waters of the Red Sea.

Multiple commercial vessels were attacked in the Red Sea on Sunday, prompting the USS Carney to shoot down Houthi UAVs. The incidents mark a possible escalation in the region.

A UK-owned, Israel-linked ship passing through the Red Sea has reportedly been hit by rocket fire, a UK-based maritime security group said Sunday, with another agency reporting possible drone activity in the area.

An American warship and multiple commercial ships came under attack Sunday in the Red Sea, the Pentagon said, potentially marking a major escalation in a series of maritime attacks in the Mideast.