Trump administration again designates Houthis as ‘foreign terrorist organization’
US State Department restores proscription — revoked by Joe Biden — of Iran-backed Yemen group that launched attacks on Israel, hundreds of ships after outbreak of Israel-Hamas war
WASHINGTON — The US State Department on Tuesday reinstated the “foreign terrorist organization” designation for Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi group, fulfilling an order announced by US President Donald Trump shortly after he took office.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the department had restored the designation, which carries with it sanctions and penalties for anyone providing “material support” for the group.
“Since 2023, the Houthis have launched hundreds of attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, as well as US service members defending freedom of navigation and our regional partners,” Rubio said in a statement. “Most recently, the Houthis spared Chinese-flagged ships while targeting American and allied vessels.”
The Houthis — whose slogan calls for “Death to America,” “Death to Israel,” and a “curse on Jews” — have carried out more than 100 attacks on ships off Yemen since November 2023 in support of Palestinian terrorists fighting Israel, disrupting global shipping.
In January, the group signaled that it will limit its attacks in the Red Sea corridor to only Israeli-affiliated ships after a ceasefire began in the Gaza Strip but warned wider assaults could resume if needed.
During the war in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis also repeatedly fired ballistic missiles and drones at Israel, in what eventually became nearly daily assaults. While most were intercepted, the attacks sent millions scrambling to bomb shelters, often in the middle of the night.
Some drones and rockets hit the country, killing a man in Tel Aviv on one occasion and causing extensive damage to a school on another, as well as other damage including in the southern resort city of Eilat.
Trump’s first Republican administration similarly designated the Houthis in its waning days, but the designation had been revoked by President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration over concerns it would badly affect the delivery of aid to Yemen, which was considered to be facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Rubio suggested in his statement that such a concern was not an issue anymore, saying that the US would no longer “tolerate any country engaging with terrorist organizations like the Houthis in the name of practicing legitimate international business.”
US State Dept. offering $15m for info on Houthi financing
Besides the “foreign terrorist organization” announcement, the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program announced that it would pay up to $15 million for information that leads to the disruption of Houthi financing.
The United Nations said last month that it suspended its humanitarian operations in the stronghold of Yemen’s Houthi rebels after they detained eight more UN staffers.
The rebels in recent months have detained dozens of UN staffers, as well as people associated with aid groups, civil society and the once-open US Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital. None of the UN staffers has been released.
The Houthis have been fighting Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition, since 2014, when they descended from their stronghold in Saada and took control of Sanaa and most of the north.
The Saudi-led coalition entered the war in March 2015, backed at the time by the US, in an effort to restore the internationally recognized government to power.
The war has killed more than 150,000 people, including civilians and combatants, and in recent years it has deteriorated largely into a stalemate.
The UN has projected that more than 19 million people across Yemen will need humanitarian assistance this year as many deal with climate shocks, malnutrition, cholera and the economic effects of war.
The Times of Israel Community.