Pentagon: Houthi campaign will not be ‘an endless offensive’

Happy Friday! The brief lull in the undeclared war against Houthi rebels is over. Shortly after the Iranian-backed rebel group threatened to resume attacks against Israeli ships, the U.S. military carried out air and missile strikes against Yemen on Saturday for the first time in months. The Houthis then attempted to attack the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, but Air Force fighters shot down Houthi drones, and a ballistic missile launched against the ship missed.
 

President Donald Trump has vowed that the Houthis will be “completely annihilated,” but the rebel group survived more than a year of periodic U.S. and British air and missile strikes that began in January 2024 and were intended to stop Houthi attacks against ships in the Red Sea. Before that, the Houthis outlasted seven years of attacks by a Saudi-led coalition.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, director of operations for the Joint Staff, told reporters on Monday that the U.S. military is now striking “a much broader set of targets” in Yemen than it did under President Joe Biden’s administration. For example, the initial strikes targeted one compound where “several senior Houthi unmanned aerial vehicle experts” were operating, he said.