The United States carried out a series of overnight airstrikes across Yemen, striking key locations including Saada province—a longtime hub for Iran-backed Houthi leaders—and the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, according to Yemeni sources.
Houthi-controlled Al Masirah TV reported that over ten airstrikes targeted various locations, including Saada’s Al-Safra district, an area known to house weapons depots and training facilities. Yemeni sources describe it as one of the Houthis’ most fortified military bases.
The strikes, launched on Saturday in response to Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, mark the most extensive U.S. military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in late 2023, the Houthis have launched over 100 assaults on commercial vessels, claiming their actions support Palestinians in Gaza. These attacks have disrupted global trade and forced the U.S. military into an expensive missile defense effort.
In response to the U.S. air campaign, Houthi leaders have vowed retaliation. Houthi foreign minister Jamal Amer told Reuters from Sanaa on Monday: “Yemen is now at war with the U.S., and we have the right to defend ourselves by any means necessary, so escalation is inevitable.”
The Houthis are part of the so-called “Axis of Resistance,” an alliance of Iran-backed militias—including Hamas, Hezbollah, and armed groups in Iraq—opposed to Israel and Western influence in the region.
Trump has warned that the U.S. will hold Iran responsible for any further Houthi attacks, promising severe repercussions. In response, two senior Iranian officials told Reuters that Iran had urged Houthi leaders in Tehran to de-escalate tensions.
Despite weeks of relative calm in the Red Sea following a January ceasefire in Gaza, the Houthis announced last week that they would resume strikes on Israeli vessels. Under the leadership of Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the group has expanded to tens of thousands of fighters and amassed an arsenal of advanced drones and ballistic missiles.
U.S. airstrikes in recent years have prompted the Houthis to relocate their weapons from known military sites, constructing new bunkers and trenches to evade attacks. However, the latest U.S. operation has targeted these newly built hideouts, forcing senior Houthi leaders into deeper concealment, Yemeni sources told Reuters.
Houthi leadership has reportedly shut off or discarded mobile phones to evade tracking, cutting off internal communications. The only senior figure to appear publicly in recent days was Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of the militia’s Supreme Revolutionary Committee, who was filmed disguised as a civilian on a bus before delivering a speech in Sanaa’s Sabeen Square.
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the resumption of airstrikes on Gaza, prompting the Houthis to threaten expanded strikes against Israel in the coming days unless the attacks cease.
Meanwhile, the Houthis claimed—without evidence—that they had launched attacks on the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea. A U.S. official confirmed that American warplanes intercepted 11 Houthi drones on Sunday, none of which came close to the carrier. Additionally, U.S. forces tracked a missile that landed off Yemen’s coast but did not pose a threat, the official added.