Yemen’s Houthis launched surface-to-air missiles at an American fighter jet and MQ-9 Reaper drone this week, but did not hit either, two US officials told Reuters.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not specify if the attacks occurred over the Red Sea or Yemen itself.
One said the incidents could suggest the Houthis were improving their targeting capabilities.
Abdul Malik al-Houthi, who leads the Iran-backed terror group, said in a televised speech on February 13 that the Houthis would intervene with missiles and drones and attack vessels in the Red Sea if the United States and Israel tried to remove Palestinians from Gaza by force. At the time, he also threatened to resume attacks on Israel.
An Israel-Hamas ceasefire took effect in Gaza on January 19, pausing 15 months of war that the Palestinian terror group started with a devastating attack on Israel, but has appeared close to collapse recently amid mutual accusations of violations.
US President Donald Trump has alarmed the Arab world with a plan to permanently displace Palestinians from Gaza and take over the war-ravaged enclave to turn it into a beach resort.
The Houthis have carried out more than 100 attacks on ships off Yemen since November 2023 in support of Palestinian terrorists fighting Israel, disrupting global shipping.
During the war in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis also repeatedly fired ballistic missiles and drones at Israel, in what eventually became nearly daily assaults. While most were intercepted, the attacks sent millions scrambling to bomb shelters, often in the middle of the night. Some drones and rockets hit the country, killing a man in Tel Aviv on one occasion and causing extensive damage to a school on another, as well as other damage including in the southern resort city of Eilat.
The Houthis also attacked Israeli and other vessels in the Red Sea, disturbing global shipping lanes, in what they said were acts of solidarity with Gaza’s Palestinians.
Israel responded to the Houthi attacks with airstrikes on the terror group’s resources in Yemen. The US and Britain have also bombed the Houthis over their attacks on shipping.
The Houthis had said that they would end their assaults when the war ended in Gaza, and since the start of the ceasefire, they have not attacked Israel.
The Houthis have repeatedly downed General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drones in the years since they seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014. Those attacks exponentially increased after the start of the Israel-Hamas war and the Houthis launched their campaign targeting shipping in the Red Sea corridor.
Iran has armed the rebels with a surface-to-air missile known as the 358 for years. Iran denies arming the rebels, though Tehran-manufactured weaponry has been found on the battlefield and in seaborne shipments heading to Yemen despite a United Nations arms embargo.
Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land. The aircraft have been flown by both the US military and the CIA over Yemen for years.