President Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to Houthi terrorists, demanding they halt attacks on Red Sea shipping or face severe consequences, declaring that “hell will rain down upon you.” He also urged Iran to stop supporting the militants as the U.S. launched a series of military strikes over Yemen.
On Saturday afternoon, Trump ordered what he described as “decisive and powerful” military action over the capital, Sanaa.
According to the Houthi-run health ministry, at least 13 civilians have been killed and nine others injured so far.
President Trump confirmed in a Truth Social post that the U.S. would deploy “overwhelming lethal force” until Iranian-backed Houthi rebels cease their attacks on shipping along a key maritime corridor.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that the military action could continue for days or even weeks.
The strikes come just hours after a top Islamic State leader in Iraq was “relentlessly hunted down” and killed in a U.S.-led airstrike on Friday.
Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rifai, also known as Abu Khadijah, was regarded as one of the “most dangerous terrorists in the world,” according to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
On Saturday, Trump delivered a forceful message regarding the latest strikes, writing: “To all Houthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP….”
Trump also issued a stern warning to Iran, the Houthis’ primary backer, demanding it immediately cease its support for the group.
“If Iran threatens the United States, America will hold you fully accountable—and we won’t be nice about it!” he declared.
This marks the largest U.S. military operation in the Middle East since Trump took office in January. It coincides with increasing sanctions pressure on Tehran as the U.S. seeks to bring it to the negotiating table over its nuclear program.
“Our brave Warfighters are right now carrying out aerial attacks on the terrorists’ bases, leaders, and missile defenses to protect American shipping, air, and naval assets, and to restore Navigational Freedom,” Trump wrote in his statement.
“No terrorist force will stop American commercial and naval vessels from freely sailing the waterways of the world.”
The United States, Israel, and Britain have previously launched strikes on Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen.
On Saturday evening, the Houthis reported explosions in their territory, including a residential neighborhood in Sanaa’s northern district of Shouab and in the northern province of Saada, the rebels’ stronghold near the Saudi border.
President Trump said that ‘overwhelming lethal force’ would be used until Iranian-backed Houthi rebels cease their attacks on shipping along a vital maritime corridor
Images show aircraft launching from a US carrier moments after Trump ordered airstrikes over Sanaa, Yemen
Analysts suggest the US military action could last days or even weeks in a bid to deter the Houthi rebels
On Saturday, in a determined post about the latest strikes, Trump wrote: ‘To all Houthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP….’
President Trump said that ‘overwhelming lethal force’ would be used until Iranian-backed Houthi rebels cease their attacks on shipping along a vital maritime corridor
Images show aircraft launching from a US carrier moments after Trump ordered airstrikes over Sanaa, Yemen
Analysts suggest the US military action could last days or even weeks in a bid to deter the Houthi rebels
President Trump said that ‘overwhelming lethal force’ would be used until Iranian-backed Houthi rebels cease their attacks on shipping along a vital maritime corridor
Images show aircraft launching from a US carrier moments after Trump ordered airstrikes over Sanaa, Yemen
Analysts suggest the US military action could last days or even weeks in a bid to deter the Houthi rebels
The Eastern Geraf district houses key Houthi-held military facilities and serves as the headquarters for the rebels’ political bureau, located in a densely populated area.
Late Saturday, the Houthis reported additional airstrikes in Yemen’s southwestern Dhamar province, claiming the attacks targeted the outskirts of the provincial capital, also named Dhamar, as well as the district of Abs.
Images circulating online showed thick plumes of black smoke rising over the Sanaa airport complex, which includes a large military installation.
Residents in Sanaa reported that one of the strikes hit a building within a known Houthi stronghold.
“The explosions were violent and shook the neighborhood like an earthquake. They terrified our women and children,” said one resident, Abdullah Yahia.
According to Houthi-run Al Masirah TV, the strikes targeted a residential neighborhood in the Shu’aub district, just north of the capital.
Al Masirah TV also reported that the Islamic Jihad Movement condemned the attacks, calling the “U.S. aggression” a “blatant show of support for the Zionist entity and its crimes against our Palestinian people and the peoples of the region, especially in Syria and Lebanon.”
Images show black smoke billowing into the sky over the area of the Sanaa airport complex, which includes a sprawling military facility
Dust rises from the site of strikes in Sanaa, Yemen, pictured on Saturday evening
In a statement, the Houthis’ political bureau condemned the attacks as a “war crime” and vowed retaliation.
“Our Yemeni armed forces are fully prepared to respond to escalation with escalation,” the statement read.
Nasruddin Amer, deputy head of the Houthi media office, declared that the airstrikes would not deter them and vowed retaliation against the U.S.
“Sanaa will remain Gaza’s shield and support, and we will not abandon it, no matter the challenges,” he wrote on social media.
Meanwhile, Houthi spokesman Mohamed Abdulsalam dismissed Trump’s claims that the group threatens international shipping routes, calling them “false and misleading” in a post on X.
The latest tensions follow a Houthi missile attack on Israel’s main airport in response to Israeli airstrikes targeting a runway in Yemen earlier this week.
The rebel group retaliated on Thursday by striking Ben Gurion Airport, located just ten miles from Tel Aviv.
The Israeli airstrikes on the Yemeni airport occurred as World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was boarding a flight.
Smoke can be seen rising into the sky after the strikes hit what is claimed to have been a residential area near the airport
According to the United Nations, three people were killed and dozens injured in the attack.
Israeli officials stated that the Houthi missile was intercepted, but 18 people sustained minor injuries while rushing to bomb shelters. Flights were briefly delayed for about 30 minutes.
The Houthis, however, insisted that the missile struck the airport and claimed that additional drone attacks targeted Tel Aviv and a ship in the Arabian Sea.
Hamas later praised the Houthis for resuming attacks on Israeli-linked shipping, calling it a “true commitment” to the Palestinian cause.
“It is a true commitment of support for our Palestinian people and their resistance, and it exerts real pressure to break the unjust siege on Gaza,” Hamas said in a statement.
“We call on the nations of the Arab and Muslim world, as well as all free people around the globe, to intensify their efforts to pressure the Zionist occupation and its supporters until the aggression ends, the siege on Gaza is lifted, and humanitarian aid reaches our besieged people,” the group added.
The Houthis declared they were reinstating their “ban on the passage of all Israeli ships” in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea after Israel failed to meet their four-day deadline to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Israel had previously blocked aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip earlier this month, aiming to pressure Hamas into extending the existing ceasefire rather than escalating into a new phase of conflict.
The U.S. airstrikes follow President Trump’s announcement of a plan to ban travelers from 43 countries, including Yemen.
He first previewed the policy in an October 2023 speech, vowing to restrict entry for individuals from the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and “anywhere else that threatens our security.”
Since November 2023, the Houthis have launched more than 100 attacks on commercial shipping, claiming their campaign is in solidarity with Palestinians amid Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
While Iran’s other regional allies—Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon—have suffered heavy losses at the hands of Israel, Yemen’s Houthis have remained on the offensive. They have sunk two vessels, seized another, and killed at least four seafarers, disrupting global trade and forcing shipping companies to take longer, more costly routes around southern Africa.
The previous U.S. administration under President Joe Biden had attempted to weaken the Houthis’ ability to attack vessels but limited direct military engagement.
U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say Trump has now authorized a more aggressive strategy.
Saturday’s strikes were carried out in part by fighter jets from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, stationed in the Red Sea, according to officials.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, described the strikes as the beginning of a large-scale campaign across Yemen.
“Houthi attacks on American ships & aircraft (and our troops!) will not be tolerated; and Iran, their benefactor, is on notice,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X. “Freedom of Navigation will be restored.”
Trump warned of even harsher military action, writing: “The Houthi attack on American vessels will not be tolerated. We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective.”
Iran’s mission to the United Nations has not yet responded to a request for comment.
On Tuesday, the Houthis announced they would resume attacks on Israeli ships in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden—ending a brief period of relative calm following the January ceasefire in Gaza.
The U.S. airstrikes came just days after Trump sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, seeking negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.
Khamenei swiftly rejected the offer on Wednesday.
Still, Iranian officials told Reuters that Tehran is increasingly worried about rising public anger over economic hardships, which could lead to mass protests.
Last year, Israeli airstrikes targeted Iranian military infrastructure, including missile factories and air defenses, in response to Iranian drone and missile attacks. U.S. officials say these strikes significantly weakened Iran’s conventional military capabilities.
Iran denies any intention of developing nuclear weapons, but the International Atomic Energy Agency has warned that Tehran is rapidly enriching uranium to 60% purity—just short of the 90% threshold needed for weapons-grade material.
Western governments argue that such high-level enrichment has no civilian purpose and that no country has enriched uranium to this level without pursuing nuclear weapons.
Iran maintains that its nuclear program is strictly for peaceful purposes.
