WASHINGTON — Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted two U.S. Navy warships with multiple drones and missiles as they were traveling through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but the attacks were not successful, the Defense Department said Tuesday. Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said the Iranian-backed Houthis launched at least eight drones, five anti-ship ballistic missiles and three anti-ship cruise missiles at the USS Stockdale and the USS Spruance, both Navy destroyers, on Monday. He said there was no damage and no one was injured.

The strait is a narrow waterway which typically sees $1 trillion in goods pass through it a year. The rebels have been targeting shipping for months over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon.

In response, U.S. and partnered forces have launched multiple rounds of coordinated airstrikes against Houthi launch sites and weapons storage sites, and the U.S. organized an international coalition to help provide protection to commercial vessels as they transited — but it has not stopped the Houthi attacks.

— The Associated Press