The United States’ military on Thursday said its forces shot down an anti-ship ballistic missile and two aerial drones launched by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

U.S. Central Command said that the target of the attack was the USS Gravely destroyer, which is patrolling the Red Sea. The military said it destroyed a mobile surface-to-air missile system in Houthi-held territory in response to the attack early Wednesday.

The bodies of six foreign aid workers killed in Israeli airstrikes began the journey back to their home countries Wednesday as more questions swirled over Israel's explanation that a "misidentification" led to the attack on their convoy.

The deadly strikes renewed criticism of Israel's conduct in the nearly 6-month-old war with Hamas and highlighted the risks that the military's bombardment poses to aid workers as they try to deliver food to the besieged enclave. The U.N. says nearly a third of the Gaza population is on the brink of starvation.

The Palestinians want the Security Council to vote later this month on their revived request for full membership in the United Nations, despite the United States reiterating Wednesday that Israel and the Palestinians must first negotiate a peace agreement.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, said 140 countries recognize the state of Palestine, and "we believe it is high time now for our state to become a full member at the United Nations."

Shortly after an airstrike widely attributed to Israel destroyed an Iranian consulate building in Syria, the United States had an urgent message for Iran: We had nothing to do with it.

But that may not be enough for the U.S. to avoid retaliation targeting its forces in the region. A top U.S. commander warned on Wednesday of danger to American troops.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh has accused Israel of procrastinating in stalled talks to secure a ceasefire in the Gaza war and a hostage release deal.

Recent negotiations have made little progress and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the Palestinian militant group has hardened its position.

President Joe Biden has voiced strong criticism of Israel following a strike that killed seven aid workers in Gaza, saying it has not done enough to protect such workers.

"Incidents like yesterday's simply should not happen. Israel has also not done enough to protect civilians," Biden said in a statement Tuesday.

The U.N. Human Rights Council will consider a draft resolution on Friday calling for an arms embargo on Israel, citing the "plausible risk of genocide in Gaza".

If the draft resolution is adopted, it would mark the first time that the United Nations' top rights body has taken a position on the war raging in Gaza.

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Wednesday that a deadly Israeli strike on aid workers in Gaza that killed a Polish citizen, and the government's reaction to the incident, were straining ties between the two countries.

Directly addressing Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel's envoy to Warsaw, Tusk posted on X: "Today, you are putting this solidarity to the test."

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Houdini of Israeli politics and its longest serving prime minister, has been written off many times before.

But with thousands of protesters on the streets every night this week demanding he resign, and growing anger at his handling of the war in Gaza, many wonder how long the veteran political escapologist can survive.

Four Israeli police were injured in a car-ramming attack at a checkpoint in the center of the country, police said Wednesday, adding that the assailant was killed after trying to stab other security forces.

The 26-year-old attacker crashed into four police officers at a checkpoint in the town of Kochav Yair, which borders the occupied West Bank and sits northeast of Tel Aviv.