David vs Goliath...
Houthis pledge new attacks on Israel-linked ships after US attacks
A man holds a fragment of a US missile
Yemen’s Houthi rebels say US attacks on the country pose the real threat to international shipping in the Red Sea.
The group said its “naval operations” will continue until Israel lifts its blockade on Gaza and lets desperately needed aid into the war-battered enclave.
US President Donald Trump announced the start of attacks on Yemen on Saturday, warning that Houthi attacks against Red Sea shipping needed to stop or “hell will rain down upon you.”
The Houthis said last week they would resume attacks on Israeli ships passing through Red Sea shipping lanes off Yemen if Israel did not lift the Gaza aid block. The Houthi authorities say at least 31 people have been killed in US attacks and most are women and children.
A girl injured in a US attack lies on a stretcher at a hospital in Yemen
Houthis claim attack on US aircraft carrier in Red Sea
The Houthi military spokesperson said that the group has responded to the US bombing of Yemen by attacking the USS Harry S Truman with ballistic missiles and a drone.
US officials signalling a broader campaign against the Houthis
We’ve been hearing from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, and I think it’s really important to point out that they’re foreshadowing a much broader campaign in Yemen.
When we heard from US President Donald Trump on social media yesterday, he talked about the Houthis needing to stop their attacks in the Red Sea. The point that we made throughout the day was that the attacks had in fact already stopped – but now the Houthis are threatening to resume those.
Now we’re hearing from Rubio and Hegseth that this is going to be a much broader campaign.
We’re also hearing from administration officials about how this is a much broader effort than what we saw under former US President Joe Biden. He would go after missile launchers, but they’re saying that they’re going to go after the people.
US strikes on Yemen part of ‘maximum pressure on Iran’
There has been a greater “appetite” to push back against the Houthis by the West, says Farea Al-Muslimi, an analyst at Chatham House.
The Houthis are associated with Iran in Trump’s mind, Al-Muslimi said. “So in a way, it’s a part of his maximum pressure on Iran.”
When Trump in 2020 ordered a drone strike to kill General Qassem Soleimani – head of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – that same hour he ordered an attack against Abdul Reza Shala’i, the IRGC commander in Yemen, said al-Muslimi.
“So in his mind, it’s a part of a larger pressure against Iran,” he said, adding that US policy on this is consistent whether a Republican or Democrat is in the White House.
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