Trump at helm as US ‘rains hell’ down on the Houthis in Yemen

Donald Trump ordered ‘decisive and powerful’ strikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels after the group vowed to resume attacks on ships.

US forces launch a missile during the attack on Houthi positions in Yemen. Picture: AFP / US Central Command

US President Donald Trump says he ordered “decisive and powerful” strikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels after the group vowed to resume attacks on ships transiting the Red Sea and nearby waters, saying that “hell will rain down” to counter the rebels’ operations.

“Our brave Warfighters are right now carrying out aerial attacks on the terrorists’ bases, leaders, and missile defences to protect American shipping, air, and naval assets, and to restore Navigational Freedom,” Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

“No terrorist force will stop American commercial and naval vessels from freely sailing the Waterways of the World.”

The US will hold the Houthis “fully accountable”, the President said. The Houthis are among the combatants in Yemen’s long-running civil war.

Local reports said there were explosions on Saturday (Sunday AEDT) around the capital, San’a. A Houthi Health Ministry official said at least 12 people had been killed and nine injured. “We condemn and denounce the crime of targeting civilians and civilian sites, considering it a complete war crime,” a spokesman for the ministry said.

Among the locations targeted were the homes of Houthi leaders in the capital, people familiar with the matter said. The strikes hit the town of Sa’dah, the Houthi’s home base, and the San’a neighbourhood of Jeraf, a Houthi stronghold similar to the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh dominated by Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia allied with Iran and the Houthis.

US military officials described the strikes as the beginning of a sustained campaign targeting the rebel group. The USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group is currently operating in the region and led the US military response, a US defence official said.

The operation included “precision strikes against Iran-backed Houthi targets across Yemen to defend American interests, deter enemies, and restore freedom of navigation”, US Central Command, which is responsible for US military operations in the Middle East, posted on social media.

President Donald Trump watches on US forces launch the attack.

The Houthis began targeting commercial and military ships transiting the Red Sea and other nearby waters shortly after the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in what it described as support for the Palestinians. The group suspended those attacks in January, following a ceasefire deal reached by Israel and Hamas.

But in recent weeks, disputes over how to move to the next phase of that ceasefire have threatened to derail an already fragile deal.

The US military operation came after the Houthis announced last week they would immediately resume attacks on Israeli ships after their deadline for Israel to resume aid deliveries into Gaza had passed.

“The Israeli entity has not adhered to the ceasefire agreement,” Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior political official and spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi rebels, said after the US strikes.

He added that America’s involvement would “elicit a response”. A Houthi political bureau spokesman said: “The aggression will not go unanswered and our armed forces are fully prepared to confront the escalation by escalation until victory is achieved.”

According to two people briefed by the Trump administration, the wave of strikes had three goals.

In the short term, it targeted Houthi missile launchers that were being moved toward the coast in preparation for new attacks on shipping. It also targeted Houthi leadership, which has gone into hiding. And finally, the strikes sent a message to Iran that it could be next and what military capability and might could be deployed.

For shipping companies, the ceasefire deal wasn’t enough to restore confidence that ships could safely transit. Big shipping companies said in January they would not send vessels back to the Red Sea.

While Houthi attacks on ships have so far not resumed, last week the Houthis claimed it shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone, which had disappeared over the Red Sea. That, coupled with the Houthis’ promise to resume attacks, spurred renewed US military action, the US defence official said.

A fighter jet takes off during the operation carried out the USS Harry S. Truman carrier group. Picture: AFP / US Central Command

Military officials met with Mr Trump last week to discuss options, defence officials said.

“The Houthis were inviting retaliation. They are aligning themselves with groups like Hamas and Hezbollah,” said Noam Raydan, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who has been tracking the Houthis’ attacks since they began. “Their attacks are not a threat to one country but to global trade.”

The Houthis first began attacking ships, including those not affiliated with Israel, in November 2023. The targeting of ships severely reduced the use of one of the most important commercial shipping waterways.

The Houthis last attacked US-flagged commercial ships in December – one in the Red Sea and one in the Gulf of Aden. That month also marked the last time the US announced attacks on Houthi targets. An earlier US-led military campaign, during the Biden administration, included more than 200 strikes and sought to reopen the waterways by weakening the Houthi rebels.

The Wall Street Journal