Houthis Threaten to Block US Ships in Retaliation for Terrorist Designation
Sputnik – 25.01.2025
Yemeni movement Ansar Allah, known as the Houthis, is considering a ban on US ships passing through the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the resumption of full-scale military operations in Yemen as retaliatory measures for the US’s designation of the movement as a foreign terrorist organization, a source in the movement told Sputnik.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an order launching the process of designating the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization. On Thursday, the Houthis said that this decision was directed against the entire people of Yemen and was revenge for Yemen’s “noble” position in supporting the Palestinians.
“The movement is considering taking measures against America, including imposing a ban on the passage of US ships through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea,” the source said.
The Houthis would also bar the passage of ships from any country that follows the US example of listing the movement as a terrorist organization, the source added.
One of the possible measures that the movement could take is “countering any military escalation that the US may take in response to the ban on the passage of its ships, as well as ending the truce in Yemen and resuming hostilities on all fronts,” the source said.
Houthi: Israel ‘failed miserably’ in onslaught on Gaza Strip
Press TV – January 16, 2025
The leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement says Israel “failed miserably” in the Gaza Strip, and that the US and the Tel Aviv regime were forced to accept the ceasefire agreement with Hamas after committing horrific crimes for months.
“The announcement of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza is an important development. The Israeli enemy and the US were forced to agree to the deal after months of horrendous atrocities,” Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech on Thursday evening.
“The Israeli enemy, with full American complicity, continued its efforts to exterminate the Palestinians in Gaza, committing more than 4,050 massacres,” the Ansarullah chief said.
Houthi said the Israeli military indiscriminately targeted all Palestinians in Gaza, attacking all sections of the society in a barbaric manner.
“The Israeli enemy subjected prisoners and captives to the most heinous forms of torture, violating human dignity. The plight of Gaza marks a gross injustice that can neither be denied nor ignored.
“The steadfastness of resistance fighters in Gaza, under the most challenging circumstances and with the most basic means, is truly praiseworthy,” Houthi stated.
The Ansarullah leader emphasized that the Israeli army failed in Gaza despite possessing sophisticated weapons and extensive intelligence operations aimed at ending the resistance front and eliminating all its fighters.
“The Israeli enemy failed in Gaza even though it employed all tactics to decisively win the battle, with full US support. The Palestinians in Gaza stood firm despite being subjected to daily extermination and all forms of terror that many other nations cannot endure.”
The Ansarullah leader said the Americans had no option but to accept an agreement after a major failure.
Many Israeli leaders, media figures, and research centers were in a state of despair and frustration as well, he said.
“The Israeli enemy failed to achieve any of its declared objectives, and dismally could not release its captives without a prisoner exchange deal. It also failed to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
“What the Israeli enemy achieved in Gaza is an enormous record of unprecedented crimes within a limited expanse of land,” Houthi pointed out.
He also noted that the Palestinian nation was not protected by international organizations, which represent themselves as so-called advocates of justice and human rights.
“The United Nations was mocked and ridiculed by Israelis, with criminal [Benjamin] Netanyahu at its very platform. The world body, however, took no concrete action against the Israeli enemy.
“At the very least, the UN should have rinsed out the deep shame of recognizing Israel and granting it membership. The international community did not intervene to impose a no-fly zone over occupied Palestinian terrorists and establish safe zones, as is the case with other regions,” he said.
Houthi criticized Arab governments for their inaction, as well as their abject failure to politically and economically boycott the Zionist regime and support the Palestinian nation.
Elsewhere in his speech, Houthi stated that Yemeni forces have conducted operations to support Gaza under very difficult conditions, emphasizing that such strikes have significantly affected Israel.
“We carried out 1,255 operations involving ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles, drones as well as unmanned underwater vehicles. We worked diligently to do everything possible in support of Gaza, continuously developing our capabilities and escalating our operations,” he said.
Houthi stressed that the US, from the onset of the Gaza genocidal war, sought to provide full protection to Israel, threatening regional countries against taking any action in support of Palestinians.
“The US deployed its naval fleets and provided military and technological protection, intercepting any attacks targeting the Israeli-occupied lands. Certain regimes even collaborated with the US in intercepting missiles and drones launched towards the occupied lands.
“American aircraft carriers and warships initially intercepted some missiles; but now they can barely shoot them down and often resort to retreat,” the Ansarullah leader said.
Houti emphasized that Yemen will continue its pro-Palestinian military operations in case the Israeli enemy insists on its genocidal campaign and reneges on implementing the ceasefire agreement.
He said a total of 106 Yemenis have been killed and another 328 wounded in the course of aggression carried out by the US, Britain and Israel against Yemen.
The Ansarullah leader finally called upon all Yemeni people to participate in mass pro-Palestinian rallies across the country on Friday, reaffirming their unflinching support for Palestinians to the entire world.
Top Trump Official Claims Iran Is the Problem in the Middle East, Vows Crackdown on Pro-Palestinian Protesters
By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | January 6, 2025
The incoming National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said the Trump administration would target Iran in the Middle East and crack down on pro-Palestian protesters in the US to support Israel.
In an interview with Mark Levin, Waltz explained the “philosophy” of the incoming administration for the Middle East. “The problems in the Middle East by and large originate from Tehran, not from Tel Aviv. We’re going to stand by and support our greatest ally in the Middle East,” he said. “We’re aligned from a national security, intelligence and values standpoint.”
Waltz described this policy as instituting a “complete philosophical, wholesale national security shift.”
“We’re going to align with our ally Israel, we’re going to realign the common interests of the Gulf Arab states with Israel in opposing Iran’s aggression, we’re going to reinstate maximum pressure, we’re going to stop them from selling their illegal oil that has been funding terrorism,” he said. Adding that the US military is “getting worn out shooting missile after missile from this ragtag bunch of Houthis. We’re going to get that under control.”
President Joe Biden has provided Israel with $22 billion in military aid since the October 7 attack. On Friday, Axios reported that Biden was planning to approve a final $8 billion arms sale to Israel. The current White House has also protected Tel Aviv at the UN Security Council and fought a war against the Houthis in Yemen to defend Israel.
Additionally, the Biden administration increased the Trump-era sanctions on Iran and refused to return to the Obama-era nuclear agreement. The White House deployed its most advanced air defense systems to Israel to protect it from a potential Iranian missile attack.
Still, Republicans in Washington and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have attacked Biden for not providing Israel with enough support. The current administration has pushed Tel Aviv to allow most aid into Gaza.
However, Tel Aviv has largely defied Washington’s requests to allow more aid into Gaza. In December aid shipments sunk to 71 trucks per day, far below the number, 500, aid agencies say is needed to prevent deaths of deprivation in Gaza. Gazan children have begun to freeze to death at night as their families shelter in tents.
CNN reports that the incoming administration will be more amenable to Israel’s policies of further restricting aid shipments to Gaza and will further cut deliveries once Trump returns to office.
Waltz went on to say the Trump administration would crack down on pro-Palestinian protesters. The US government will “look at mosques, individuals, universities, professors – you name it – that post a threat to the United States and are radicalizing individuals to harm the United States.” He continued referring to pro-Palestinian campus protesters, people “here on a student visa, with the privilege to study in our universities – you don’t get to protest and radicalize. You’re going to go back home real fast.”
Some of Trump’s America First supporters may view doubling down on US support for Israel as a violation of that policy. Waltz said he believes Trump will be convinced to follow through on the policy points he explained to Levin.
Deals, such as expanding the Abraham Accords, is “what gets President Trump so excited and that’s what makes all of these historic disagreements that have perpetuated for decades, if not centuries, smaller and smaller,” he explained.
On Monday, Trump made remarks to radio host Hugh Hewitt that would suggest Waltz is correct. “Well, I’m the best friend that Israel ever had. You look at what happened with all of the things that I’ve gotten, including Jerusalem being the capital, the embassy getting built,” he stated, adding the provision of military aid to Israel would be “uninterrupted” during his administration.
Yemeni air defenses intercept, shoot down another US MQ-9 Reaper drone
Press TV – January 1, 2025
Yemeni air defense units have successfully intercepted and shot down another American MQ-9 Reaper drone while it was conducting hostile activities in the airspace over the country’s west-central province of Ma’rib.
The spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF), Brigadier General Yahya Saree, made the announcement in a televised statement on Wednesday.
He stated that the American aircraft was downed with a homegrown Yemeni surface-to-air missile, as it was carrying out a reconnaissance drone operation above the area.
Back on December 28, Saree said Yemeni forces had intercepted and shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the central province of al-Bayda.
Saree said in a televised statement at the time that the unmanned aerial vehicle was targeted with a locally-made surface-to-air missile.
Yemenis have been hitting Israeli and American targets in support of Palestinians in Gaza since the regime launched its devastating war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, and in response to the American-British aggression on their homeland.
Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement has been also targeting ships linked to Israel, the United States, or the United Kingdom to force an end to the Tel Aviv regime’s genocidal war on Gaza.
The operations have effectively shut down the Eilat port south of the occupied territories, causing significant economic setbacks for the Israelis.
The Yemeni Armed Forces have said they will not stop their attacks until Israel’s ground and aerial offensives in Gaza end.
Israel has killed at least 45,541 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured another 108,338 individuals in Gaza since the onset of the war.
Numerous US-British airstrikes target Yemeni capital Sanaa
Al Mayadeen | December 31, 2024
A US-British aggression targeted Tuesday the capital, Sanaa, amid continuous airstrikes, Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in Yemen reported.
Our correspondent indicated that the US-British airstrikes targeted the September 21st Park, located in the northwestern part of Sanaa, which previously housed the First Armored Division.
He also noted that the aggression targeted, with eight airstrikes, a complex that includes the Ministry of Defense and military administrative offices in the Bab al-Yemen area in central Sanaa, as well as the May 22nd Military Industrial Complex in the al-Nahda neighborhood, northwest of Sanaa.
The spokesman for the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement, Mohammad Abdelsalam, pointed out that the aggression against Yemen represents “a blatant violation of the sovereignty of an independent state” and comes in support of “Israel”.
Abdelsalam affirmed that “Yemen will continue to defend itself against any aggression and remains steadfast in supporting Gaza.”
The latest aggression comes a couple of hours after the spokesperson of the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF), Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced that the YAF missile force carried out two top-tier military operations against Israeli targets.
The first targeted Ben Gurion Airport in the city of Yafa (Tel Aviv) in occupied Palestine using a hypersonic ballistic missile of the Palestine-2 type, Saree said, adding that the second operation targeted a power station in southern occupied al-Quds with a Zulfiqar-type ballistic missile.
According to the spokesperson, both missiles successfully hit their targets.
Saree pointed out that the two operations coincided with a joint operation conducted by the YAF’s naval, missile, and UAV forces, targeting the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman with a large number of drones and cruise missiles, while US forces were preparing to launch a major aerial attack against Yemen.
He confirmed that the operation successfully achieved its objectives, thwarting the planned American aerial assault on Yemen.
Elsewhere, Saree reiterated that the operations of the YAF will only cease with the cessation of the Israeli aggression against Gaza and the lifting of the blockade imposed on the Palestinian strip.
US, British jets rain fire on Yemeni capital in new late night attack
The Cradle | December 28, 2024
US and UK warplanes launched a new round of airstrikes on the Yemeni capital late on 27 December, targeting the 21 September park in the Maeen district of Sanaa, according to Yemen’s Al-Masirah TV.
No photos or videos of the attack have been released or circulated on social media. US Central Command (CENTCOM) has not claimed responsibility for the attack.
The latest western aggression came one day after Israeli warplanes launched massive airstrikes on Sanaa and the coastal province of Hodeidah in retaliation for continued drone and hypersonic missile attacks by the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
Earlier on Friday, hundreds of thousands of Yemenis marched through the streets of Sanaa, Saada, Hodeidah, Hajjah, and Al-Mahwit, proclaiming, “We firmly stand with Gaza, the glory… without limits and without red lines.”
Demonstrators also called on the YAF to intensify their operations in support of Palestine.
The mobilizations started soon after YAF spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree confirmed that Sanaa conducted drone and missile attacks targeting Israel’s Ben Gurion airport, “a vital target” south of Tel Aviv, and an Israeli-linked ship in the Arabia Sea, in response to Israel’s aggressions on Yemen and Gaza.
At least six people were killed and 40 others injured when Israel bombed Sanaa International Airport, Red Sea ports, and power stations on Thursday.
“[Ansarallah] are more technologically advanced than perceived by many [and should not be] underrated,” an Israeli official told the Washington Post on Friday, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
He claimed that with support from Iran, Yemen has been able to take “practical steps” in fighting a war against Israel and its close allies.
“Because it’s so cheap for them to try to get a drone or a missile every few days or weeks into Israel, they can win this,” Yoel Guzansky, a former official on Israel’s National Security Council and senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv told the US daily.
The US and UK launched an illegal war on Yemen at the start of the year, seeking to protect Israeli trade interests and shield the country from the pro-Gaza operations of the Axis of Resistance.
Yemeni operations have been ongoing since November 2023, and Sanaa has vowed not to stop until the genocide in Gaza comes to an end. The daring operations by the YAF against Israel and its allies have forced several US aircraft carriers and European warships out of West Asia.
Massive Israeli attacks pummel Yemen’s main airport, Sanaa pledges ‘response in kind’
Al Mayadeen | December 26, 2024
The Israeli occupation launched a large-scale attack on Yemen while the leader of the Ansar Allah movement, Sayyed Abdul Malik al-Houthi, was delivering his speech.
A source told Al Mayadeen on Thursday that the Israeli aggression on Sanaa and Hodeidah targeted civilian facilities and was carried out with the US and UK’s coordination and support.
The source also said that targeting civilian facilities is evidence of the occupation’s failure to have a clear target list within the country, stressing that this “will not change the course of the war and will be met with a similar response.”
Al Mayadeen’s correspondent, in turn, also confirmed that the Israeli occupation’s aggression targeted a gathering of travelers, including patients, at the Sanaa International Airport terminal, and also targeted airport control towers.
Significantly, sources told Al Mayadeen, that the Israeli aggression on Sanaa International Airport took place during the presence of two UN personnel in the airport: the WHO’s Director and the UN’s resident coordinator.
Moreover, the sources reported that the UN airplane’s co-captain had been injured and was transported to a hospital after the Israeli aggression on the airport, adding that two other airport employees were also killed as a result of the attack.
The source emphasized that the Israeli entity should “not lie in wait for a response from Sanaa because its military operations will continue.”
Al Mayadeen’s correspondent then added that the Israeli airstrikes hit Sanaa International Airport in the northern part of the capital, as well as two airstrikes on the Hiziz Central Power Plant south of Sanaa.
The correspondent further noted power outages in parts of Hodeidah Province due to the Israeli attack on the Ras Kathib Central Power Plant in the northern part of the coastal city on the Red Sea in western Yemen.
Additionally, our correspondent underscored that the Israeli occupation’s aggression on Hodeidah was executed with the US Navy’s participation through their warships.
Yemen likely to intensify operations against ‘Israel’: Israeli media
Meanwhile, Israeli media outlets reported that officials in “Israel” expect an increase in attacks from Yemen, especially after this assault.
Channel 14 confirmed that the attack targeted three central sites: Sanaa Airport, a power plant in Sana’a, and the Hodeidah port, noting that “this is not an ordinary attack, but the opening of a battle that could be prolonged.”
Israeli Channel 14’s correspondent also mentioned that Israeli aircraft disabled Sanaa International Airport by destroying the control towers and also disrupted the Hodeidah seaport.
According to Israeli Channel Kan, this was “Israel’s” fourth attack on targets in Yemen, adding that the United States had been informed of the operation.
In response, Ansar Allah’s spokesperson, Mohammed Abdulsalam, condemned the targeting of Sanaa International Airport and other civilian infrastructure, describing it as a Zionist crime against the entire Yemeni people.
He pointed out that if the Zionist enemy thinks its crimes will stop Yemen from supporting Gaza, it is mistaken, affirming that Yemen will not abandon its religious and humanitarian principles.
‘Israel’ Struggles to Deter Threat by Yemen’s Ansarullah
Al-Manar | December 24, 2024
Facing the escalating challenges from Yemen’s Ansarullah revolutionary group, the Zionist entity weighs its options, with no clear resolution yet to the significant threat posed by the intensified actions in support of Gaza over the past year.
Zionist officials and experts are deliberating strategies to counter these threats, with recent military responses proving ineffective at best, Al-Akhbar Lebanese newspaper reported on Monday.
Ansaruallah, having pledged its support to the Palestinian resistance, has disrupted maritime activity by targeting commercial ships heading to Israeli ports through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea. This strategy aims to pressure Israel to stop its genocidal war on Gaza.
Israel initially relied on US intervention, citing limited resources due to the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) spreading themselves thin across the northern and southern fronts.
However, US responses have remained tactical, with strikes limited to retaliation for disruptions to trade and supplies, their insufficiency as deterrence is highlighted by a recent friendly fire incident that destroyed one of their own jets.
Remarking on the US aggression, Yemen’s Defense Minister Mohammed Nasser Al-Atifi warned Washington that the country was capable of sinking the US’s naval fleets, and was in possession of weapons yet to be revealed.
Despite Israeli airstrikes on Yemen, analysts agree these efforts have failed to deter Ansarullah, Al-Akhbar’s Yahya Dbouk wrote. The group has intensified its operations, reiterating its support for Gaza and vowing further action unless ‘Israel’ halts its genocide against Palestinians.
Israeli experts suggest alternative strategies, including targeting Yemeni leadership in Sanaa, weapon production facilities, and economic hubs such as ports and energy sites, as well as bombing Saada for its symbolism in the Yemeni public’s consciousness according to Dbouk, who added that proposals to strike Sanaa and Saada aim to weaken Ansarullah’s influence and mobilize opposition forces within Yemen.
As he considered that these measures are seen as unlikely to achieve decisive results, the Lebanese writer noted that Tel Aviv has also considered reviving the Saudi-Emirati led war against Yemen with Zionist support.
However, doubts remain about its feasibility, given the previous failures of the coalition to secure a military victory during the war waged by the Saudi-led coalition on the Arab impoverished country since March 2015, according to the author.
Another debated approach involves targeting Iran, viewed as Ansarullah’s so-called “primary supporter”, Dbouk reported, noting that this strategy, however, raises questions about the Zionist entity’s capacity to address broader regional threats in wartime.
On the other hand, a ceasefire in Gaza has been proposed as a potential solution to ease Yemeni attacks. Ansarullah themselves have said on multiple occasions that as long as the war on Gaza continues, so will the attacks from Yemen and the maritime trade disruptions.
Such option “seems likely to break quickly, due to a possible failure in the second phase of a potential swap deal between Gaza and ‘Israel’, which is widely believed in Tel Aviv will never see the light,” Dbouk wrote.
The Zionist entity continues to weigh its options, with no clear resolution yet to the significant threat posed by Ansarullah and its broader implications for regional security.
Frustrated by Incessant Missile Attacks, Israel Threatens to Start Assassinating Houthi Leaders
By Ilya Tsukanov – Sputnik – 24.12.2024
Israeli terror bombing attacks targeting Yemen’s port and energy infrastructure and a year-long US-led naval deployment in the Red Sea at Tel Aviv’s urging have failed to deter Ansar Allah (better known as the Houthis) from launching increasingly impactful drone and missile attacks.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has threatened to start targeting the Houthis’ leaders.
“We will inflict a devastating blow to the Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen,” Katz said.
“Just as we took care of Sinwar in Gaza, Haniyeh in Tehran and Nasrallah in Beirut, we will deal with the heads of the Houthis in Sanaa or anywhere in Yemen,” Katz warned, referring to the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah assassinated by Israel this year. “We will act both against their infrastructure and against them to remove the threat.”
Katz also took a pot shot at Iran, whom the US and Israel have regularly accused of backing the Yemeni militia, warning that “whoever sponsors the Houthi terror in Hodeidah or Sanaa will pay the full price.”
Iran, which has long denied providing direct military support for the Houthis, said Tuesday that the militia’s operations have forced Israel and the US to alter their calculations.
“Even under the heaviest bombardments from the American-Israeli coalition, they target the heart of the occupied territories with their homemade missiles,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said at a press conference in Tehran. “The Yemenis have proven they need no external assistance. Despite dire economic and military conditions, they have stood firm and resisted,” he added.
The Israel Defense Forces reported early Tuesday morning that they had intercepted a Houthi missile outside Israel’s airspace. Sirens wailed across central Israel amid fears of the missile reaching its target, with over two dozen people injured (one seriously) while running for cover in the panic.
Houthi official Hezam al-Asad vowed the group would continue its attacks “until the aggression against our people in Gaza stops.”
On the diplomatic front, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Monday instructed Israel’s diplomats in the EU and the UK to label the Houthis as a terrorist organization (currently, only Israel, the US, several Gulf states, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Malaysia do so).
“The direct threat to freedom of navigation in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes is a challenge to the international community and the world order. The first and most basic thing is to define them as a terrorist organization,” Sa’ar said in the directive.
On Tuesday, Sa’ar sent a letter to US UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield asking her to convene an emergency session of the Security Council to condemn the Houthis for their “flagrant violation of international law.”
In addition to their drone and missile campaign, the Houthis have done major damage to Israel’s merchant shipping fleet by imposing a partial blockade of the Red and Arabian Seas targeting Israeli-linked and Israel-allied shipping.
A Houthi missile penetrated Israel’s much-touted missile defenses Saturday, injuring 16 people in Jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv. The IDF probe into the incident found that the warning system “was activated late for reasons that cannot be detailed.”
Another Houthi missile landed a direct hit in Tel Aviv last week, again overwhelming air defenses, with the militia characterizing the attack as their “natural and legitimate” right to respond to Israeli aggression.
The militia also scored a major PR victory against Israel’s US allies last week, reporting the shootdown of an F/A-18 jet during an attack on the USS Harry Truman supercarrier. The Pentagon said the jet was downed in a friendly fire incident. Whatever the case, the Houthis have confirmed kills of nearly a dozen US Reaper drones, and are known to have downed a number of US and NATO-made helicopters and fighter jets from the mid-2010s onward in their war against a US-backed Gulf State coalition.
Yemeni forces target USS Truman, down F-18, thwarting attack on Sanaa
Sputnik – 22.12.2024
Fighters of the Yemeni Ansar Allah (Houthi) group have repelled joint US-UK air forces attack, shooting down a US Navy F/A-18 fighter jet during their attack on USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, the group’s military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said on Sunday.
“During the operation an F/A 18 jet was shot down attempting to repel the attack [on the US aircraft carrier],” Saree said on air of Almasirah TV channel.
Eight cruise missiles and 17 unmanned aerial vehicles were involved in the operation, the spokesman said.
He pointed out that the majority of fighter jets left Yemen’s air space and headed for the neutral waters of the Red Sea trying to repel the attack on the carrier. USS Harry S. Truman left its positions after the strikes, Saree said.
In early December, the Houthis attacked a destroyer and three army supply vessels of the United States with missiles and drones in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.
Earlier in the day, the Associated Press, citing CENTCOM, reported that a US Navy F/A-18 jet was downed by friendly fire over the Red Sea during an attack on Houthi targets. Both pilots ejected safely, with one sustaining minor injuries.
Houthis Have Trapped American Superpower in Dangerous ‘Stalemate’, US Media Say
By Ilya Tsukanov – Sputnik – 30.11.2024
The US military is “locked in a dangerous stalemate” in its campaign against the Houthis, proving “unable to effectively stop the rebels from attacking ships,” and at the same time “unlikely” to be given a free hand for all-out war against the group, a top mainstream US business publication has suggested.
“The American military has led a Western naval coalition into battle against the Houthis to curb their relentless attacks, but a year of intense combat has brought the US no closer to ending the threat posed by the rebels – and, for now, a more aggressive approach doesn’t appear to be the desired course,” Business Insider suggested, citing the sentiments of US officials and experts, including the Biden administration’s top Yemen envoy.
“The restrained approach to the ongoing Houthi crisis leaves the US military engaged in combat operations without a clear path to victory,” BI said, pointing to the toll Houthi attacks have had on Red Sea shipping, which up until a year ago accounted for up to 15% of all maritime trade.
Then there’s the impact on the US military’s much vaunted reputation – the limits to which have been made clear over the past year amid its inability to degrade the potential of a group armed with $20,000 drones, homemade ballistic missiles and Soviet-era air defense systems.
“The threat still persists, and there doesn’t seem to be much abating that,” former US Central Command chief Gen. (ret.) Joseph Votel said. Instead, US operations “have been clearly focused on trying to defend ourselves and going after launch sites, production sites, storage sites, maybe some command and control sites – but none of that seems to be deterring the Houthis at all,” Votel complained.
“Allowing the Houthis to protract their gradual escalation campaign is a much more dangerous policy choice for the US in the long run than a more decisive military effort would have been,” Brian Carter, Middle East analyst at the DC-based American Enterprise Institute neocon think tank, argued, highlighting the impact Houthi persistence has had on the US’s perceived strength abroad.
Gen. Votel added that the more assets the US deploys against the Houthis, the less there will be for the Pentagon’s other global priorities, including challenging China in the Pacific.
A recent report by Brown University’s Costs of War Project estimated that the US has spent over $2.5 billion on the anti-Houthi campaign over the past year – which includes the cost of stationing multi-billion dollar carrier strike groups in the region, and the $4 million+ apiece missiles the US has fired to take down Houthi drones.
US Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Bill LaPlante told a defense forum earlier this month that as a missile expert, he was “shocked” by the Houthis’ increasingly advanced missile capabilities, saying the militia has proven able to churn out new arms that “can do things that are just amazing.”
Last month, an article in an issue of West Point military academy’s Combating Terrorism Center Sentinel journal revealed that Houthi projectiles nearly landed hits against a US supercarrier and a missile destroyer over the course of Red Sea operations earlier this year.
Israel too has seen the growing power of Houthi missile and drone capabilities, facing attacks by large, airplane-style UAVs and a new hypersonic ballistic missile the Houthis have called the ‘Palestine-2’.
The Houthis have linked the end of their Red Sea campaign to a halt in the year-plus long war in Gaza, and recently urged President-Elect Trump to “fulfill his commitment to Arab voters and supporters of Gaza” and pressure Israel to stop the fighting in the besieged enclave, and halt American aggression against Yemen itself, emphasizing that the US was “paying an economic and military price” for its role as Israel’s lackey.
“The question remains: will Trump continue with the same policy and will the American aggression against Yemen continue? If it continues, the American economy will suffer more losses,” a militia source told Newsweek earlier this month.
Despite being sanctioned and designated a terrorist organization by the Trump administration, the Houthis have been among the traditional international adversaries of the US to have expressed cautious optimism over the prospects of Trump’s return to the White House.
Last week, Ali Larijani, a senior advisor to the Iranian Supreme Leader, echoed the Houthis’ sentiments, suggesting “the question is whether the America of the Trump era sees its interests in continuing the behavior of the Democrats – who pulled America down in the region and destroyed its reputation… or do they want to make a turn in accordance with America’s national interests,” including by putting an end to “warmongering in the region.”
Houthis claim attack on US aircraft carrier
RT | November 12, 2024
Yemen’s Houthis launched a “successful” missile attack on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea on Tuesday, according to a statement posted on X by spokesman Yahya Saree. A second attack targeted two American naval destroyers in the Red Sea, he said.
The Houthis are a Shia group styling themselves as the Yemeni government and who control the capital Sanaa and northwest of the country. They have been disrupting Israeli and Western shipping in the Red Sea for almost a year, in an effort to pressure Israel to stop attacking Gaza.
Tuesday’s strikes involved “a number of cruise missiles and drones” and were conducted “while the American enemy was preparing to carry out hostile operations” targeting Yemen, the Houthi statement said.
According to Saree, the group “achieved its goals successfully” and an air attack by US forces was “thwarted.” The two operations lasted eight hours, he added.
Following recent escalations between Hezbollah and Israel, the Houthis have added to their list of demands an end to “Israeli aggression” against Lebanon. They also blamed the US and UK, which have launched large-scale attacks on the group, for “turning the Red Sea region into a zone of military tension” and for the subsequent “repercussions on maritime navigation.”
The US Navy has not yet issued any statements regarding the purported attack on its ship.
Earlier on Tuesday, China’s Xinhua news agency reported, citing Yemeni sources, that at least ten Houthis were killed in two separate US drone strikes in the country’s central Al-Bayda province.
The United States Central Command (Centcom) confirmed in a post on X that aircraft from the USS Abraham Lincoln had supported operations against the “Iran-backed Houthis.”
On Monday, Centcom said it had also carried out strikes against several targets in Syria that it believes are associated with Iran-backed groups. It said the strikes were in response to attacks on US forces, but did not confirm which groups had been targeted. The US has accused the Houthis of being a proxy of Iran, which the group has denied.
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The Dirty Little Secret behind the “Global Terrorism Index”
The Omission of Israeli Terrorism in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
By Karin Brothers | Global Research | December 6, 2014
… The Israeli settlements — all of which are illegal – have been identified as a major impediment to peace. The refusal of a major “global” terrorism report to name the Israeli settlers as one of the groups most responsible for terrorism not only misrepresents a major source of regional violence but exposes the Global Terrorism Index as a propaganda tool that supports a U.S. agenda.
In recent years, governments have been attempting to thwart terrorism by blocking supportive fund-raising. When it comes to Israeli settlements, however, the US and Canada actually encourage fund-raising by giving organizations (such as Christian Friends of Israeli Communities (CFOIC) and the Jewish National Fund) financial support in the form of donor tax-deductions.
Charities which provide funds for the Israeli settlements should be regarded as terror-financing organizations. They should not only lose their tax-deductible status, but they should be banned because they support the violation of international humanitarian law. The terror-financing laws that are being strictly enforced for Muslim charities should be applied to Christian and Jewish charities as well. … Read full article
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