US warship shoots down drones over Red Sea; Israel expands ground offensive in Gaza

An American warship responded to attacks on three commercial ships Sunday in international waters of the Red Sea, a possible escalation of the war just as Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip intensifies following a weeklong truce.

The USS Carney shot down three drones while responding to distress calls from the vessels after they were targeted by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Pentagon said in a statement. The assaults with ballistic missiles lasted about seven hours and damaged two of the ships, according to the statement.

The Defense Department initially described the assault as an attack on the Carney before providing more details, but later said it was unclear if the warship was targeted.

"These attacks represent a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security,'' the U.S. Central Command said. "They have jeopardized the lives of international crews representing multiple countries around the world. ... The United States will consider all appropriate responses in full coordination with its international allies and partners.''

The Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, is described on its website as "505 feet of American fighting steel." It was not damaged and no serious injuries were reported, a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Associated Press.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have ambushed multiple ships in the Red Sea in recent days, claimed responsibility for attacking two commercial ships saying they were from Israel, but made no mention of the Carney. Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the ships don't have a connection to the country.

The attacks, combined with an increase in clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah near the Lebanon border, could represent steps toward an expansion of the war in the region, something the Biden administration has labored to prevent.

The war began Oct. 7, when militants from Gaza swept across the Israeli border in a murderous assault that left about 1,200 people dead, many of them women and children. Israel says close to 100 of its soldiers have died in the ensuing attack on the Palestinian enclave.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says more than 15,500 Palestinians have been killed, 70% of them women and children, and upward of 41,000 have been injured.

VP Harris calls on Israel to respect international law, stop killing innocent Palestinians

Developments:

∎ Five members of an Iran-backed militia were killed in an airstrike blamed on the U.S. near Kirkuk in northern Iraq, Reuters reported, citing Iraqi security sources who said the group was preparing to attack U.S. forces with projectiles.

∎ U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the administration is working "hour by hour" to get Israel and Hamas back to the negotiating table but doesn't know when it might happen. Israel has sent its negotiators home. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said a permanent cease-fire must be on the table for the group to resume talks.

∎ Hamas said more than 700 Palestinians were killed in the first 24 hours after the truce ended and fighting resumed. "There is NO SAFE PLACE in Gaza as the Israeli occupation forces commit atrocities everywhere in the Strip," the group's leaders said in a statement.

∎ The Ziv Medical Center in the Israeli city of Safed near the Lebanese border said it had admitted 12 people wounded from a Hezbollah missile attack. Lebanon-based Hezbollah has so far declined to become fully engaged in the war.

∎ The bodies of 31 Palestinians killed in Israeli bombardment across central Gaza were taken to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, said Omar al-Darawi, a hospital administrative employee.

∎ The United Nations estimates that 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced.

∎ The intensifying combat will likely interfere with humanitarian aid to Gaza. Wael Abu Omar, a spokesman for the Palestinian Crossings Authority, told the Associated Press that 100 aid trucks entered Sunday. But U.N. agencies have said 500 trucks per day on average entered before the war.

Israel expands ground offensive in Gaza

The Israeli military said Sunday that operations in southern Gaza would be “no less strength” than its previous offensive in the north. More evacuations were ordered as the Israeli military's ground offensive expanded to every part of Gaza on Sunday.

Heavy bombardment followed the evacuation orders. Palestinians, who had fled from north Gaza seeking an escape from the Israeli bombardment, said they were running out of places to go in the sealed-off territory bordering Israel and Egypt.

The U.N. says nearly 960,000 Palestinians are sheltering at its 99 facilities in the south.

UNICEF spokesman says leaving danger zones 'not possible'

The Gaza Strip’s second-largest city, Khan Younis, has become the focus of the Israeli military campaign as it continues in the southern part of the enclave.

Israel has been dropping leaflets telling civilians Khan Younis is a "dangerous combat zone" and directing them to go to Rafah farther south or to a coastal area in the southwest. The message has also been relayed through phone calls and TV and radio broadcasts, for those who have access to them.

But UNICEF spokesman James Elder said the warnings are useless for people who may not have the means to move and will force them instead to seek refuge in a shelter with no toilets or running water.

“It’s not scientific, it’s not rational, it’s not possible,’’ he told CNN from Khan Younis. “The only things I think it is are calculated and cruel.’’

Elder pointed out the “bombardments are absolutely relentless,’’ making getting away from them difficult, and said doctors had told him the so-called safe zones would soon be riddled with disease, likely leading to more deaths.

UNICEF aims to provide humanitarian aid and education to children. In one post on X Sunday, Elder raised the alarm about “the endless killing of children here,’’ and in another he said, “I am seeing massive child casualties. We have a final warning to save children; and our collective conscience.’’

Israel's Gaza bombardment targets crowded south; map marks evacuation orders

British aircraft to aid search for hostages

Unarmed British aircraft will carry out surveillance flights over Gaza to support efforts to locate and free hostages held by militants, British Defense Minister Grant Shapps said Sunday. He said Britons remain in Hamas custody and that "their freedom is our utmost priority." Hamas condemned the announcement, saying Britain had become a partner in the Israeli occupation.

"The UK should have corrected its historically negative stance towards our people," the statement said. "It should remind the world of its shameful colonial past."

Militants seized about 240 hostages and brought them to Gaza on Oct. 7. Israel says 110 have since been freed – 86 Israelis and 24 foreigners – in exchange for about 240 Palestinian prisoners.

UN laments 'brutal resumption of hostilities'

Israel’s military, which for weeks directed more than 1 million Gazans to evacuate the northern region of the enclave, ordered more areas in southern Gaza evacuated Sunday as residents scrambled to find somewhere to go. Israel has shifted much of its bombardment to the south, near Gaza's second-largest city of Khan Younis. Israeli officials say they believe many members of the Hamas military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, have fled northern Gaza with the evacuees and are hiding in and around the city.

"We fought hard and thoroughly in the north of the Gaza Strip, and we will do it now in the south," Israel military Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said.

Khan Younis was home to more than 200,000 people before the war. Now it is far more crowded after residents of the north sought refuge in the area.

"Brutal resumption of hostilities in Gaza and the terrifying impact on civilians underscore the need to end the violence," said U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk, adding that civilian suffering was “too much to bear.”

Israel destroys hundreds of tunnels

The Israeli military said Sunday it had located over 800 shafts of Hamas underground tunnels and many miles of tunnel routes in the Gaza Strip since the war began almost two months ago.

Some of the shafts connected "strategic" underground Hamas assets, and weapons were found in many of them, Israel said. About 500 of the tunnels and miles of tunnel routes were destroyed with explosives or blockades.

"The shafts were located in civilian spaces, and many of them were located near or inside buildings such as educational institutions, kindergartens, mosques and playgrounds," the Israeli military said.

Israel has stepped up its military offensive across Gaza since a truce that allowed for the exchange of militant-held hostages and Israeli-held Palestinian prisoners ended over the weekend.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel-Hamas war: US warship shoots down drones in Red Sea