An Israeli-owned ship was attacked by an Iranian-made drone in the Indian Ocean on Friday, a US military official announced today.

“We have been informed of the information according to which a Shaded 136 drone struck a ship in the Indian Ocean,” the official told AFP, adding that the ship was damaged by the attack, but no one was injured.

This attack comes after threats by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels to target Israeli shipping interests in the Red Sea and ships belonging to Israel’s allies.

The Houthis announced on Sunday that they had captured in the Red Sea a cargo ship with a crew of twenty-five, owned by an Israeli businessman and chartered by a Japanese shipping group, in retaliation for the bombing of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army emphasized that it is not an Israeli ship.

The Shiite Houthi rebels control much of war-torn Yemen and are part of the “axis of resistance” against Israel, made up of Iran-backed groups such as Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah. In recent weeks, rebels have fired drones and rockets into Israeli territory. Many of them have been intercepted by Israeli air defense systems or by US warships.

According to maritime security company Ambrey, the ship attacked on Friday is a “Malta-flagged container ship” and the ship is operated by a French company. It is run by “a company linked to Israel (…) which explains why it was targeted.”

As the company reported, prior to the attack, communication systems that allowed this ship to be located were disrupted shortly after it left the port of Jebel Ali.

Meanwhile, Ambrey cited another warning issued today by the Houthis to an oil tanker sailing in the southern Red Sea, with the company stressing that an operation by those rebels against the vessel appeared “likely imminent”.

Ambrey noted that she recorded “a warning message issued by Ansar Allah (Houthi) to an oil tanker sailing 59 miles southwest of the Yemeni port of Hodeidah.

The Houthis asked the tanker to change course and warned that “an attack will follow if it does not follow instructions,” according to the maritime security company.