Houthis Say They Won’t Back Down Even If US ‘Mobilizes the Entire World’

The US launched a 10-nation naval task force, dubbed Operation Prosperity Guardian, after major shipping companies began pausing Red Sea transits due to the Houthi attacks. Bahrain is the only Arab country to participate in the coalition, and no nations with coasts on the Red Sea have joined.

“Even if America succeeds in mobilizing the entire world, our military operations will not stop … no matter the sacrifices it costs us,” Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior member of the Houthis’ political bureau, wrote on X.

In another post, al-Bukhaiti said, “America’s announcement of the establishment of the Coalition of Shame will not prevent us from continuing our military operations until the crimes of genocide in Gaza are stopped and food, medicine and fuel are allowed to enter its besieged population.”

The Houthis have vowed to target all commercial vessels heading to or from Israeli ports and have also fired missiles and drones at Israeli territory. In some cases, US warships have intervened and intercepted Houthi attacks.

The Houthis, formally known as Ansar Allah, have controlled the Yemeni capital of Sanaa since 2014 and govern the area of Yemen where 70-80% of Yemen’s population lives. The US is considering taking direct military action against the Houthis, which would mean bombing Yemen, a step that could shatter the fragile truce between the Saudis and Houthis that has held relatively well since April 2022.

The US is also threatening to kill a Saudi-Houthi peace deal by redesignating the Houthis as a “foreign terrorist organization,” which would make the implementation of the agreement impossible. For their part, Riyadh is asking the US not to strike the Houthis directly over concerns that it would provoke more attacks.