This photo released by the Houthi Media Center shows Houthi troops boarding the Galaxy Leader cargo ship on November 19, 2023. Houthi Media Center/AP/File
The US has carried out more strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, but who is the group?
The Houthi movement, also known as Ansarallah (Supporters of God), emerged in the 1990s when its leader Hussein al-Houthi launched a religious renewal movement for a centuries-old subgroup of Shiite Islam called Zaidism.
The Zaidis ruled Yemen for centuries but were marginalized under the Sunni regime that came to power after the 1962 civil war. Al-Houthi's movement was founded to represent the Zaidis and oppose radical Sunniism, particularly Wahhabi ideas from Saudi Arabia. His closest followers became known as Houthis.
Currently, the Houthis continue to control large parts of Yemen and are part of Iran's so-called “Axis of Resistance” – an anti-Israel and anti-Western alliance of regional militias backed by the Islamic Republic. Along with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis are one of three prominent Iran-backed militias that have carried out attacks on Israel in recent weeks.
Red Sea Attacks: In response to the horrific scenes from Gaza, the Houthis have targeted merchant ships in the Red Sea to inflict economic damage on Israel and its allies, in what is believed to be an attempt to pressure Israel to stop its bombing.
The global economy has received a series of painful reminders of the importance of this narrow stretch of sea, which runs from the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait off the coast of Yemen to the Suez Canal in northern Egypt – and through which 12% of the strait flows global trade, including 30% of the world's global trade worldwide container traffic.
Several countries have taken steps to curb Houthi aggression in the Red Sea region. The United Nations Security Council has since passed a resolution calling on Yemen's Houthi rebel group to stop its attacks in the Red Sea.
A Houthi spokesman said they would continue their attacks “to prevent Israeli ships entering the ports of occupied Palestine from sailing in the Arabian and Red Seas.”
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