Houthis vow retaliation amid US airstrikes

US airstrikes hit Sanaa, Yemen

(Image credit: Mohammed Huwais / AFP via Getty Images)

What happened

Yemen's Houthi-run health ministry said Sunday that large-scale U.S. airstrikes over the weekend killed at least 53 people, including women and children. Houthi leaders vowed retaliation and targeted U.S. warships, though their drones and missiles were intercepted. President Donald Trump said Saturday that the U.S. would use "overwhelming lethal force" against the Houthis until they stopped attacking ships in the Red Sea. U.S. officials said the strikes could continue for weeks.

Who said what

The Houthis suspended their yearlong campaign against commercial ships in January after Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza. They threatened to restart the attacks last week but have not done so yet. "We will confront escalation with escalation," Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech last night. If the "American enemy" continues its "aggression, we will move to additional escalation options" beyond attacking warships.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" that the "unrelenting" U.S. strike would continue until "the minute the Houthis say, 'We'll stop shooting at your ships, we'll stop shooting at your drones.'" Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CBS News the U.S. would keep attacking until the Houthis "no longer have the capability" to constrain Red Sea shipping traffic.

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What next?

Trump "joins a succession of U.S. presidents" in ordering strikes on the Houthis, The Wall Street Journal said, but so far the Iran-backed group's "own attacks and defiant response to Western airstrikes" have only boosted their global stature and "popularity in the Arab world." It's "absurd" to think "this massive wave of airstrikes" will cow the Houthis, Mohammed Albasha, founder of U.S.-based Middle East security advisory Basha Report, told the newspaper. "They're going to retaliate and retaliate severely. It's going to be a vicious cycle."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.