WASHINGTON, November 9. /TASS/. An MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle of the United States was shot down on Wednesday off the coast of Yemen, a US official has confirmed to TASS.

"We can confirm that a U.S. military MQ-9 remotely-piloted aircraft was shot down today off the coast of Yemen by Houthi forces."

Ansar Allah movement spokesman Yahya Saria said on Wednesday its affiliated Houthi rebels have shot down a US MQ-9 reconnaissance drone over Yemeni territorial waters.

"Our air defenses have managed to shoot down a US MQ-9 drone, which was carrying out hostile reconnaissance activities in the airspace over Yemeni territorial waters as part of US military support for the Israeli regime," Saria said in a statement uploaded to its Telegram channel.

Houthi forces have reported several strikes on the territory of Israel since the conflict in the Gaza Strip broke out in early October.

The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated following an incursion of Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israel on October 7. Hamas regards the attack as a response to Israeli actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Israel has declared a complete siege of the Gaza Strip and has started delivering strikes on that area and parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.