In the Red Sea, the Houthis have fired on commercial and military ships almost 40 times since November. In the latest attack, they fired a ballistic missile at a Liberian-flagged container ship on Thursday, U.S. defense officials said.

The attack happened west of Hodeida, a port city in Yemen long held by the rebels, said the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a British military group overseeing Mideast waterways. It said the crew and the vessel were safe and the blast came far off the vessel’s starboard side.

The U.S. defense officials identified the targeted container ship as the Koi, a Bermuda-owned vessel. Its management could not be immediately reached for comment. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters. The Houthis did not claim responsibility for the assault.

The private security firm Ambrey reported Wednesday night that a ship was targeted with a missile southwest of Aden, Yemen, near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The Houthis claimed that attack also targeted the Koi, though American officials had no immediate information on any attack Wednesday night.

The airstrikes conducted by the US military took place over 30 minutes, and three of the sites struck were in Iraq and four were in Syria, said Lt Gen Douglas Sims, director of the Joint Staff.

US Central Command said the assault involved more than 125 precision munitions, and they were delivered by numerous aircraft, including long-range B-1 bombers flown from the US.

Let Gen Sims said the weather was a factor as the US planned the strikes in order to allow the US to confirm it was hitting the right targets and avoiding civilian casualties.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 18 militants were killed in the Syria strikes.

Syrian local media reported there were casualties but did not give a number.

Iraq’s military spokesperson said the airstrikes conducted by the US “constitute a violation of Iraqi sovereignty” and warned of severe implications.

It undermines “the efforts of the Iraqi government, and pose a threat that could lead Iraq and the region into dire consequences”.

“The outcomes will have severe implications on the security and stability in Iraq and the surrounding region.”

Three US service personnel were killed and more than 40 were wounded last week after a drone hit a military outpost in Jordan known as Tower 22, on the border between Iraq and Syria. It marked the first time US soldiers have been killed by the attacks since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

The White House determined that the attack was carried out by a loose alliance of Iran-backed militias in the region.

“We believe that the attack in Jordan was a plan resourced and facilitated by an umbrella group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which contains multiple groups, including Kataib Hezbollah,” Mr Kirby said.

US secretary of defence Lloyd Austin said on Thursday that the military response to those deaths will be “multi-tiered”.

“Again, we have the ability to respond a number of times, depending on what the situation is,” he added.

The strikes by US forces took place at around 4pm eastern time on Friday, coinciding the dignified transfer of the three soldiers killed in a drone attack in Jordan, which was attended by president Biden and the first lady.

The bodies of the Army reserve soldiers, Sgt William Rivers, Sgt Breonna Moffett and Sgt Kennedy Sanders, were honoured after being returned to the US.

According to the White House, a flag-draped transfer case containing each soldier was removed one at a time by teams of six carriers in camouflage uniforms and white gloves who bore them from the cargo bay of a C-5 transport plane to a van.

The Bidens were joined by Defence Secretary Lloyd.Austin and Joint Chiefs Chair Charles Brown.

The three US service personnel were killed on a military outpost in Jordan known as Tower 22, on the border between Iraq and Syria. It marked the first time US soldiers have been killed by the attacks since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

The president and first lady are in Delaware to honour the three American servicemembers killed in last Sunday’s drone attack in Jordan as their remains are returned home to their families.

The prospect of a full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia terrifies people on both sides of the border, but some see it as an inevitable fallout from Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.

Such a war could be the most destructive either side has ever experienced.

Israel and Hezbollah each have lessons from their last war, in 2006, a monthlong conflict that ended in a draw. They’ve also had four months to prepare for another war, even as the U.S. tries to prevent a widening of the conflict.

The US has bolstered defences at the base in Jordan that was attacked by Iran-backed militants as it prepares for a wider response to a drone attack that killed three of its service members, an American official said Friday.

Even as a larger US military response seemed imminent, some Iran-backed factions pledged to continue to attack its forces in the region. In a statement released on Friday, one of Iraq’s strongest Iran-backed militias, Harakat al-Nujaba, announced its plans to continue military operations against American troops, despite other allied factions having called off their attacks in the wake of Sunday’s drone strike in Jordan.

While previous US responses have been more limited, the attack on Tower 22, as the Jordan outpost is known, and the deaths of the three service members has crossed a line, the official said.

The base was struck by an Iranian-made drone fired from Iraq, they said.In the days since the attack, the US has bolstered the defences around Tower 22, which houses about 350 troops and sits near the demilitarised zone on the border between Jordan and Syria. The Iraqi border is only six miles away.