The US says tonight that it is not interested in a war with Yemen, just hours after American and British missiles hit Houthi rebel positions there. Five people were killed and six wounded, but a Whitehouse spokesman said President Biden's actions were about preventing any escalation of conflict. The joint military strikes were in response to nearly two months of attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi movement on cargo ships in the Red Sea, disrupting commercial shipping and the global economy. The Houthis say that they're targeting Western support for Israel. A coalition of countries were involved in last night's military operation to destroy Houthi military infrastructure and munitions. Some of the targets were in the Yemen capital, Tsarna. The Houthies who control much of Yemen retaliated by firing one ballistic missile today, which failed to hit a target, and they warned that Britain and the US will pay a heavy price for their aggression. Here's our international editor, Jeremy Bowen..

In Sennar, Yemen's capital, a huge rally against the airstrikes and in support of Palestinians filled the city's broadest boulevard. It was organized, the the Houthies do not allow unauthorized protests. But without question, millions in Yemen and across the Arab world are appalled by Israel's conduct of the Gaza War and regard the American and British airstrikes as an escalation operation on Israel's behalf. During the night, the Americans launched their attack from a carrier battle group in the Red Sea. Like Britain, they'd warned the Houthies that this was coming if they didn't stop hitting shipping. The airstrikes are intended to show that Western Red Lines won't turn pink under pressure. But if anything, the Houthis will be even more determined to carry on.. Yahia Sari, a Houthi military spokesman, said the Americans and British were responsible for criminal aggression, which would be answered with attacks on all hostile targets on land and sea. The RAF released video of its jets taking off for Yemen from the British base in Cyprus. The British are trying to distance airstrikes aimed at opening the Red Sea from the war in Gaza.

It's clear that this type of behavior can't be met without a response. We need to send a strong signal that this breach of international law is wrong. People can't act like this within impunity, and that's why, together with allies, we've decided to take this action.

Even more emphatically, an American military spokesman told CBS News in the US that the strikes were nothing to do with Gaza.

It's important to differentiate between what's happening between Israel and Hamas and what's happening in the Red Sea. You have the Houthi rebels that are conducting indiscriminate attacks against international shipping. Over 50 countries have been affected by this, affecting the economic prosperity of multiple nations.

But the Houthis, whose commanders captured a ship in the Red Sea in December, say their attacks are to support Palestinians in Gaza and to hit Israel's allies. Iran provides the Houthis training and weapons, and the Houthis say these attacks will go on until the fighting in Gaza stops. Britain and the US oppose an immediate ceasefire in the war. The air strikes, this was the RAF raid, are only partly about freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. The reality is that they're also directly linked to events in Gaza and represent an escalation in the crisis that is gripping the Middle East. Jeremy Bowen, BBC News.