Latest Houthi Attack on Ship Ends in Fatalities

Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war have ended in fatalities for the first time. US officials say two crew members were killed in a missile strike on the Liberian-owned, Barbados-flagged True Confidence in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday. Survivors were forced to abandon ship, with CBS News reporting by way of a US defense official that six others were injured. "The targeting operation came after the ship's crew rejected warning messages from the Yemeni naval forces," a Houthi rep claimed, saying the attacks would not cease until the "siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza is lifted."

• Putting the development in context: The AP sees the attack as "further escalat[ing] the conflict on a crucial maritime route linking Asia and the Middle East to Europe that has disrupted global shipping. The Iranian-backed Houthis have launched attacks since November, and the US began an airstrike campaign in January that so far hasn't halted the rebels' attacks."
• A dotted line connection to the US: The AP notes it's unclear why the Houthis went after the True Confidence, but it had previously been owned by US-based Oaktree Capital Management. The BBC reports that under its current ownership, the vessel had been en route to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from China with a cargo of steel items and trucks.

(More Houthis stories.)