A senior US Defense Department official confirmed on Wednesday that the Iran-backed Houthi rebels shot down an American MQ-9 drone off the coast of Yemen. In the midst of the group's targeting of Israel with the continued bombing of the Gaza Strip.

The Houthis, who took control of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, in 2014 and rule vast areas of the country, claimed responsibility for shooting down the plane earlier on Wednesday, while the American official said, “Houthi forces shot down an American MQ-9 military drone off the coast of Yemen.” Dimension".

As for the Houthis, who had previously shot down an American drone, they said that the plane was carrying out “hostile actions, monitoring, and espionage” within the framework of American support for Israel in its war against Hamas.

The United States quickly provided military support to Israel and reinforced American forces in the region after Hamas fighters carried out a surprise cross-border attack from Gaza on October 7, which Israeli officials say killed more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians.

The Israeli army responded with a sustained air, land and sea attack on Gaza, which the Ministry of Health in the Strip says left more than 10,500 people dead, sparking widespread anger in the region.

The Houthis have targeted Israel on multiple occasions in recent weeks, and the US Navy in the Red Sea intercepted several missiles fired by the Houthis last month.

On Tuesday, the group’s military spokesman announced the launch of a large batch of ballistic missiles and a large number of drones towards Israel, while sources reported that the Hebrew state is considering responding to these strikes.

The statements of the Houthi official indicate that there is coordination between armed groups linked to Iran to launch attacks, while Iranian officials deny any role in the recent operations and that the decision to carry out any attack against Israel rests with the leadership of its allies.

Last week, the Israeli Foreign Ministry accused the Houthis of launching missiles and drones towards southern Israel that intercepted “hostile targets.”

As a result of the fall of some of its debris, six people were injured in the Egyptian city of Taba, which borders Israel, and the city of Nuweiba was subjected to a similar attack, according to what the Egyptian army reported, while Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned of the expansion of the scope of the war regionally.

The United States warned Iran of the consequences of expanding the scope of the conflict while sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East, but Iran responded in turn by warning American forces of the consequences of igniting the flames of war because they would be burned.

On October 7, the Hamas movement launched an unprecedented attack in the history of Israel, during which it infiltrated into Israeli areas, and caused the death of more than 1,400 people, most of whom were civilians who died on the first day of the attack, during which Hamas also took 240 hostages, according to the Israeli authorities