DUBAI – A drone boat loaded with explosives crashed into a ship Tuesday in the Red Sea, the British military and private security officials said, signaling the latest suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

The drone attack and an earlier attempted attack Tuesday likely are the rebels’ first assaults on commercial shipping in weeks as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to become a regional conflict.

As Israeli ground forces entered Lebanon after days of Israeli airstrikes that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other top officials, the Houthis have threatened “escalating military operations” targeting Israel.

One of the attacks took place some 110 kilometers off the port city of Hodeida. A captain on a ship saw four “splashes” near his vessel, likely missiles or drones launched at the vessel.

The UKMTO later reported a second attack north of the first. The private intelligence firm Ambrey similarly reported two separate attacks.

The UKMTO later said the first ship it reported on was later damaged by a drone that punctured one of its ballast tanks in another attack.

Ambrey identified the drone as a drone boat, which have been increasingly used by the Houthis.

The Red Sea has become a battlefield for shippers since the Houthis began their campaign targeting ships traveling through the waterway, which once saw $1 trillion a year of cargo pass through it.

The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S., or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza.

The last attack on a merchant ship by the Houthis was on Sept. 2.

The Houthis claimed responsibility for an attack targeting American warships last week.