US and UK Carry Out Air Strikes in Yemen, Houthis Vow Revenge

Yemen’s Houthi movement Friday promised significant military retaliation after U.S.-led coalition conducted air strikes that killed at least five people in an effort to halt harassment of international shipping in the Red Sea over Israel’s invasion of Gaza. 

“Our country was subjected to a massive aggressive attack by American and British ships, submarines, and warplanes, and America and Britain will undoubtedly have to prepare to pay a heavy price and bear all the dire consequences of this blatant aggression,” wrote Houthi Foreign Minister Hussein al Ezzi in an online statement. 

The Houthi movement controls large parts of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, after years of civil conflict that drew in neighboring Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Closely linked to Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, the Houthis have developed a simple but effective drone and missile program that has been used repeatedly since the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel to harass cargo ships in crucial Red Sea shipping lanes. Houthi rockets have also targeted U.S. and U.K. warships and Israel itself.

In announcing the operation involving U.S. and U.K. planes, the Pentagon said the targeted positions included radar stations, air and naval bases and suspected missile launch sites.

“These strikes are in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea,” said President Joe Biden in a statement released by the White House. “These attacks have endangered U.S. personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardized trade, and threatened freedom of navigation.”

The action came after months of attacks by Houthi forces on commercial shipping transiting the Red Sea and the commercially essential Suez Canal—about 14 percent of world trade normally transits the area—in support of Hamas, demanding an end to the Israeli military assault on the Gaza Strip in response to October 7 that’s killed at least 23,000 Gazans and shattered the enclave’s infrastructure. 

Although Houthi officials have repeatedly said that only Israeli linked vessels would be targeted, the reality has been more chaotic, with the hijacking of a Japanese managed ship, repeated attempts to hit major cargo carriers, and attacks on U.S. and U.K. warships. Thursday’s military operation is unlikely to deter the Houthis, who have proven to be extremely adept fighters over the course of Yemen’s conflict.

The Houthis withstood years of Saudi and UAE military operations and air strikes before eventually forcing both countries to offer ceasefires, which has given the group extreme confidence that it can face Western militaries, said a regional diplomat, who cannot speak on the record. 

“It’s difficult to avoid escalation when trying to negotiate with a group that has escalation with the West as policy,” said the diplomat. “The Houthis appear intent on being seen as equal partners of their [Iranian centered] allies.”

More than 60 positions around Houthi-controlled Yemen were hit in the first wave, with a focus on reducing Houthis capabilities to target shipping, according to a NATO military official from a country that participated in the mission.

“The targeting had to be substantive because it’s understood the Houthis are not going to go away over a symbolic bombing,” said the official, who cannot be identified on the record. 

“It’s very much assumed they’ll retaliate as soon as later today. The Houthis have no reason to think they should back down yet.”