Houthi attacks are soaring, and it's not just the US Navy shooting their weapons out of the sky

• Houthi rebels launched another attack on a commercial vessel off the coast of Yemen on Monday.
• During the incident, a French warship on patrol was tasked with shooting down a drone.

A French Navy warship shot down a drone off the coast of Yemen on Monday, marking the third time it's done so since beginning operations in the area last week.

For nearly two months, US Navy warships have been shooting down missiles and drones launched by the Houthis in Yemen. But recent attacks by the Iran-backed rebels around the southern Red Sea have now roped in other naval forces as Washington and its allies work to address a growing threat to international shipping in a critical waterway.

US Central Command, or CENTCOM, said in a Monday statement that at around 4 p.m. local time, an anti-ship cruise missile launched from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen hit a Norwegian flagged commercial tanker as it was passing through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, which separates the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aden. The oil tanker, called the Strinda, reported damage but no injuries.

While there were no US Navy ships in the immediate area at the time of the attack, CENTCOM said USS Mason, a destroyer that's been involved in a handful of other incidents in the region, responded to the Strinda's distress call and provided assistance.

But the Mason was not alone. The French military revealed on Tuesday that one of its frigates, the Languedoc, intervened during the attack.

The Languedoc was patrolling the area when it intercepted and destroyed a drone that was "directly threatening the tanker and moved in to protect the affected vessel," Pascal Confavreux, a French diplomat, said in response to the military's statement. He added that the Languedoc continued its patrol as the Mason escorted the Strinda away from the threat zone.

"This is just one in a series of successes," Confavreux said of the Languedoc since it began operating in the region on Friday. The frigate shot down two Houthi drones in the Red Sea on Saturday.

A Houthi spokesperson confirmed that the rebels targeted the Strinda because it was headed for Israel. The militants have gone from threatening to attack ships that they suspect have ties to Israel to claiming that they will prevent ships of any nationality from sailing toward the country because they — like other Iran-backed groups — oppose the Israeli military's war against Hamas.

With this policy, the Houthis have carried out a number of attacks on commercial ships off the coast of Yemen in recent weeks — including at least one hijacking. The most expansive one to occur so far took place in early December, when three vessels were struck by missiles over a period of just a few hours.

In response to this ongoing threat to international shipping, US officials have suggested the expansion of a maritime task force in the region to help ensure the safe passage of commercial vessels through waterways that are critical to the global economy.

US Navy warships on patrol in the region, meanwhile, have been regularly tasked with shooting down lethal drones launched by the Houthis.

Naval warfare experts suggest these are not a big threat to the US Navy, which even bragged last weekend that one of its destroyers, the USS Carney, boasts an undefeated record of 22-0 against Houthi threats since it moved into the region in October.

The Pentagon has asserted that the Houthi drones and missiles are "not necessarily targeting" the US warships, but are "most likely" after the commercial vessels in the region.

"Part of why we are in the region is to bolster our deterrence but to also ensure the free passageway of commercial ships that are transiting through one of the most vital water ways in the world," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said at a Friday briefing.