The British military’s maritime security agency said a tanker was hit Tuesday in the Strait of Hormuz, less than a day after two other ships, including a Qatari gas tanker, were allegedly attacked by Iran.

“UKMTO has received a report of a further incident involving a tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” the Maritime Trade Operations center said on X. “The tanker was struck by an unknown Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and has sustained minor structural damage. No casualties or environmental impact reported.”

The two ships targeted earlier also reportedly sustained damage, with nobody hurt.

Amid the strikes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on a visit to a Haifa naval base that Israel would protect freedom of maritime navigation.

“I set a simple objective,” he said. “The objective of the Navy, and of Israel, is to ensure shipping routes and freedom of maritime trade, which are so important to the State of Israel.”

Netanyahu didn’t go as far as to say that Israel would take actions in the Strait of Hormuz, though, so it wasn’t immediately clear whether his declaration would have any implications on the broader regional conflict.

The string of Iranian attacks, after more than a week of respite, revived concerns about freedom of navigation after a memorandum of understanding that the US and Iran reached last month required Tehran to lift its blockade of the waterway.

All three vessels were struck close to Oman, which had proposed a........

© The Times of Israel