Israel's missile ships are joining US combat power in the Red Sea as more Iran-backed militants fire weapons its way

Yemen's Houthi rebels on Tuesday attacked Israel, forcing it to use its Arrow air-defense system for the first time since the war with Hamas started.

• Israel said it deployed missile ships to the Red Sea, where they'll join US Navy vessels in the area.
• The force posture change comes after Houthi rebels in Yemen fired missiles and drones at Israel.
• Iran-backed militant groups have increased attacks on Israel and US troops in the Middle East.

After a series of attacks from Iran-backed militants, Israel has deployed several ships capable of launching missiles to the Red Sea, where they will join US Navy vessels already there. 

"In accordance with the situational assessment and as part of defensive efforts in the area, yesterday, Israeli Navy missile boats arrived in the area of the Red Sea," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear how many ships were dispatched to the area.

The US currently has several ships in the Red Sea — including guided-missile destroyers, an amphibious assault ship, and a dock landing ship — that were sent there in October to offer support to Israel and prevent its war with Hamas from widening into a regional conflict.

The Israeli force posture change comes after Yemen's Houthi militants, a group that like Hamas is backed by Iran, claimed responsibility for firing long-range missiles and drones at Israel on Tuesday. The IDF said "all aerial threats were intercepted outside of Israeli territory," with some of them downed by Israeli fighter jets around the Red Sea to the south. Early on Wednesday morning, another threat was reportedly intercepted near Israel's southern coastal city of Eilat.

Israel also said on Tuesday that it used the Arrow air-defense system to intercept at least one surface-to-surface missile for the first time since the was with Hamas started in early October. The Arrow systems make up the top layer of Israel's sophisticated air-defense network and are designed to engage threats like short- and medium-range ballistic missiles in the upper atmosphere. 

"IAF detection systems tracked the trajectory of the missile, which was successfully intercepted by the 'Arrow' Aerial Defense System at the optimal operational moment and location," the IDF said in a statement.

The use of the Arrow system for the intercept suggests the Houthis fired a ballistic missile. This would be an escalation over the previous attack that the militant group carried out last month, when it fired several land-attack cruise missiles and drones that were shot down by the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer and one of the US naval assets in the Red Sea.

Although it's unclear exactly what missile was intercepted by the Arrow system, a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed the Houthi attack and that the militants do have projectiles that are capable of reaching Israel. 

"This is something that we will continue to monitor. As we've said before, we want to prevent a broader regional conflict," Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters on Tuesday. "We will continue to stay in close contact with our partners in the region to make sure that we continue to do that."

The Houthis, which have fought a civil war against Yemen's internationally recognized and Saudi-backed government, are one of several proxy groups across the Middle East that are supported by Iran and opposed to Israel. While the Houthis have not yet managed to actually strike Israel with their missiles and drones, another Tehran-backed group — Lebanon's Hezbollah — has regularly exchanged fire with the IDF since the war with Hamas started. 

Meanwhile, since October 17, other Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria have collectively launched over two dozen attacks on US forces based in those two countries. Last week, the Pentagon said its forces conducted "self-defense strikes" on facilities in Syria that are used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and associated groups in retaliation for the ongoing strikes.

"These Iranian-backed attacks against US forces are unacceptable and must stop," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement at the time. "Iran wants to hide its hand and deny its role in these attacks against our forces. We will not let them. If attacks by Iran's proxies against U.S. forces continue, we will not hesitate to take further necessary measures to protect our people."