US Launches Heavy Airstrikes Against Houthis in Yemen
US military carried out airstrikes targeting Houthi positions in Yemen on Tuesday night, according to US officials familiar with the operation who spoke to Al Arabiya English.
The strikes reportedly hit missile and drone systems, as well as Houthi air defense infrastructure. Officials indicate this marks the start of an intensified military campaign against the Iran-aligned group, which recently vowed to resume attacks on ships transiting the Red Sea.
Shortly after the operation, former US President Donald Trump issued a warning on Truth Social, stating that if Houthi aggression continues, “hell will rain down upon you like nothing you’ve ever seen before.” He also directed a message at Iran, the Houthis’ primary supporter, urging it to cease backing the group immediately. Trump added that if Iran threatens the US, “America will hold you fully accountable—and we won’t be nice about it!”
Earlier, Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported strikes targeting the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. The Houthis, who control much of Yemen including Sanaa, have escalated attacks on Israel and international shipping lanes since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023.
Their repeated assaults on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden—critical waterways for global trade—have drawn widespread condemnation.
In late January, Trump signed an executive order reinstating the Houthis to the US list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO), a designation he initially applied during his first term. The move criminalizes engagement with the group, which governs territories housing most of Yemen’s population. The Biden administration had removed the Houthis from the FTO list in 2021 following concerns from aid groups that the designation hindered humanitarian efforts in Yemen.
Yemen, already the Arab world’s poorest nation before descending into war a decade ago, now faces one of the globe’s most severe humanitarian crises, with roughly two-thirds of its 34 million people reliant on aid.