Planning is underway for actions intended to cripple the Houthis’ ability to target commercial ships by hitting the group at the source, four people familiar with the matter told the news website.
The sources underscored that the US still wants diplomacy to work and hasn’t decided to go ahead with the strikes.
Even so, one of the sources told Bloomberg the Pentagon is preparing to offer President Joe Biden the possibility of what was described as a “heavy” response to the Iran-backed Houthis.
Asked Tuesday about possible military action, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he wouldn’t “telegraph any punches one way or the other.”
The report comes a day after US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin officially announced that the US and a host of other nations are creating a new force to protect ships that have come under attack in the Red Sea by drones and ballistic missiles from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
The United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain will join the US in the new mission, Austin announced. Some of the countries will conduct joint patrols while others provide intelligence support in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have upped their attacks on vessels in the Red Sea since the start of the Israel-Hamas was on October 7.
Last week, the Houthi rebels threatened to attack any vessels heading to Israeli ports unless food and medicine were allowed into the Gaza Strip.
Two days later, the Houthis launched a land-based cruise missile towards a Norwegian commercial tanker vessel.
A senior Houthi official then warned cargo ships in the Red Sea to avoid traveling toward “occupied Palestinian territories”.
Last Thursday, the Houthis claimed they carried out a military operation against a Maersk container vessel, directly hitting it with a drone, but did not provide evidence for the claim.
A day later, Maersk and German company Hapag-Lloyd announced they would temporarily halt operations in the Red Sea. On Saturday, two more major shipping firms, Mediterranean Shipping Company and CMA CGM, announced they were suspending passage through the Red Sea due to Houthi rebel attacks in the area.