US strikes Yemen again as rebels attack Greek cargo ship

US forces carried out fresh strikes on Yemen on Tuesday, an American official said, as the Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed a missile attack on a Greek-owned cargo ship in the Red Sea.

A string of Houthi attacks and retaliatory US and British strikes have heightened fears of Israel's war on Gaza flaring across the region and disrupted trade in one of the world's key maritime commercial routes.

"The US conducted self-defence strikes against four Houthi ballistic missiles that posed an imminent threat to merchant vessels and US Navy ships," a US official said on condition of anonymity, marking at least the third such strike in less than a week.

Maritime risk management company Ambrey had earlier said a "Malta-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier was reportedly targeted and impacted with a missile while transiting the southern Red Sea northbound".

The ship, which has visited Israel since the outbreak of war in Gaza and was headed to the Suez Canal, changed course and headed to port after the incident, Ambrey said.

A source within the Greek maritime affairs ministry named the ship as the Zografia, a 24-crew vessel, and said it had been sailing from Vietnam to Israel.

The Zografia "sustained limited damage... but remains in a navigable condition, and is continuing its journey", the source said, adding that there were no injuries on board.

Yemen's Houthis, who vowed to attack Israeli-linked shipping in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza since 7 October, claimed responsibility for the strike later on Tuesday.

They said their forces "carried out a targeting operation" against the ship with multiple naval missiles after the crew did not respond to warnings, vowing to continue such attacks "until the (Israeli) aggression stops and the siege on... the Gaza Strip is lifted".

United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a maritime security agency run by the British Navy, also reported an "incident" in an area northwest of Saleef in Yemen, without giving further details.

The Houthis also launched attacks on American vessels on Sunday and Monday following US and UK strikes on their territory last week.

They declared US and British interests "legitimate targets" after the Western allies struck scores of sites in rebel-held Yemen on Friday.