Israel’s war in Gaza, which began after an unprecedented Hamas attack on 7 October, has stoked violence across the Middle East and beyond, much of it involving Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen pitted against the US and its allies. Yemen’s Houthi group began targeting Red Sea shipping in November, saying they were hitting Israel-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza. In response the US and UK have hit Houthi targets in Yemen. Those strikes have run in parallel to a US response to repeated attacks on US military bases in Iraq, Jordan and Syria.