Two U.S. Navy destroyers repelled an attack by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on American ships over the weekend, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) says. 

“U.S. Navy destroyers USS Stockdale and the USS O’Kane successfully defeated a range of Houthi-launched weapons while transiting the Gulf of Aden, Nov. 30-Dec. 1,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement. “The destroyers were escorting three U.S. owned, operated, flagged merchant vessels and the reckless attacks resulted in no injuries and no damage to any vessels, civilian or U.S. Naval.” 

“The destroyers successfully engaged and defeated three anti-ship ballistic missiles, three one-way attack uncrewed aerial systems, and one anti-ship cruise missile, ensuring the safety of the ships and their personnel, as well as civilian vessels and their crews,” the statement continued. 

“These actions reflect the ongoing commitment of CENTCOM forces to protect U.S. personnel, regional partners, and international shipping, against attacks by Iran-backed Houthis,” CENTCOM added. 

RUSSIA TRICKS YEMENI MEN TO FIGHT IN UKRAINE UNDER HOUTHI SCHEME 

The attack came weeks after U.S. forces conducted retaliatory strikes against Houthi weapons storage facilities in Yemen. 

The facilities targeted in mid-November were all located in Houthi-controlled territories and housed a variety of advanced conventional weapons used by Houthis to target U.S. and other international military – as well as civilian – vessels moving through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. 

US FORCES TARGET HOUTHI WEAPONS STORAGE FACILITIES IN YEMEN 

The guided-missile destroyer USS O’Kane makes its way out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 2010. USS O’Kane also helped repel the attack by the Houthis. (MC2 Mark Logico/U.S. Navy via Getty Images)

U.S. Air Force and Navy assets, including the F-35C, were used during the operation.  

This marked the first time the F-35C stealth strike fighter had ever been used in combat, a U.S. defense official told Fox News. 

Houthi rebel fighters march during a rally of support for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and against the U.S. strikes on Yemen outside Sanaa on Jan. 22. (AP )

The strikes also aimed to degrade the group’s ability to threaten partners in the region. 

Fox News’ Greg Wehner and Liz Friden contributed to this report. 

The president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday criticised the US and Russia for interfering with its investigations and threatening its judges.

The court — which started its annual meeting on Monday — is facing increased scrutiny and criticism in some quarters over arrest warrants issued to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as its relatively empty docket.

ICC President Tomoko Akane told representatives of the court’s 124 member states in The Hague that it faced “coercive measures, threats, pressure, and acts of sabotage”.

“International law and international justice are under threat. So is the future of humanity,” she added.

ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan last month issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his former defence minister and Hamas’ military chief for crimes against humanity in connection with Israel’s nearly 14-month war in Gaza.

The warrant for Netanyahu was widely denounced in the US, which is not a member of the ICC, with several Republicans urging Congress to sanction the war crimes court.

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called the court “a dangerous joke” last month and said that the government would sanction any of its allies — naming Canada, Britain, Germany and France — that tried to help the ICC enforce the warrant on Netanyahu.

In a barely veiled reference to Graham’s threat, Akane said: “The court is being threatened with draconian economic sanctions from institutions of another permanent member of the Security Council as if it was a terrorist organisation.”

Graham’s warning is considered as more than mere bluster. In 2020, US President-elect Donald Trump sanctioned the ICC’s previous prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, with a travel ban and asset freeze for investigating US troops and intelligence officials in Afghanistan.

Akane also indirectly criticised Russia — which is not a member of the court — for issuing an arrest order last year against the ICC’s chief prosecutor Khan, in retaliation for the court’s warrant against Putin for allegedly overseeing the deportation of hundreds of children from Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

“Elected officials are being severely threatened and are subjected to arrest warrants from a permanent member of the UN Security Council,” she said.

The ICC’s 23rd annual meeting — it was established in 2002 — will see the court elect committee members and approve its budget, which was about €187 million this year.

The court, which relies on member states to execute its arrest warrants, has long faced accusations of ineffectiveness over its number of convictions. ICC judges have issued 11 convictions and four acquittals to date, but the court will have no trials pending after two conclude in December. Thirty people wanted by the ICC remain at large.