U.S. Issues Warning to Houthis: Strikes Will Continue Until Shipping Attacks Cease

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Key Points

US airstrikes in Yemen have killed at 31 people
The United States says it will continue to strike Yemen until attacks on shipping end
Yemen’s Houthis say they are prepared to escalate attacks

The United States will keep attacking Yemen’s Houthis until they end attacks on shipping, the US defence secretary said on Sunday, as the Iran-aligned group signalled it could escalate in response to deadly US strikes the day before.

The airstrikes, which Yemen’s health ministry said killed at least 31 people, are the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January.

One US official told Reuters the campaign might continue for weeks.

The Houthi movement’s political bureau described the attacks as a “war crime” and said Houthi forces were ready to “meet escalation with escalation,” while Moscow urged Washington to cease the strikes.

The Houthis’ military spokesperson on Sunday said, without offering evidence, that the group had targeted US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and its warships in the Red Sea with ballistic missiles and drones in response to the US attacks.

A US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity to Reuters, dismissed the claims, saying they were not aware of any Houthi attack on the Truman.

People in hospital scrubs take an injured person on a stretcher through a group of people.

Yemen’s Health Ministry said the overnight strikes killed at least 31 people, including women and children, and wounded over 100 in the capital of Sanaa and the northern province of Saada, the rebels’ stronghold on the border with Saudi Arabia. Credit: Al Masirah TV / AP

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures”: “The minute the Houthis say we’ll stop shooting at your ships, we’ll stop shooting at your drones. This campaign will end, but until then it will be unrelenting.”

“This is about stopping the shooting at assets … in that critical waterway, to reopen freedom of navigation, which is a core national interest of the United States, and Iran has been enabling the Houthis for far too long,” he said. “They better back off.”

The Houthis, who have taken control of most of Yemen over the past decade, said last week they would resume attacks on Israeli ships passing through the Red Sea if Israel did not lift a block on aid entering Gaza.

They had launched scores of attacks on shipping after Israel’s war with Hamas began in late 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with Palestinians.

Trump also told Iran, the Houthis’ main backer, to stop supporting the group immediately. He said if Iran threatened the United States, “America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!”

The Houthi attacks on shipping have disrupted global commerce and set the US military off on a costly campaign to intercept missiles and drones.

The group suspended its campaign when Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza in January.

But on 12 March, the Houthis said their threat to attack Israeli ships would remain in effect until Israel reapproved the delivery of aid and food into Gaza.