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President Donald Trump suggested he would relaunch his war on Yemen if Ansar Allah follows through on its pledge to prevent Saudi shipping through the Bab al-Mandab. Last year, Trump ordered a massive bombing campaign against Yemen in an effort to break Ansar Allah’s blockade on Israel.
On Monday, the Yemeni Armed Forces said it was imposing the blockade in response to Saudi’s blockade of Yemen and the recent strikes on Sanaa airport. Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia bombed the airport in Yemen’s capital city.
On Tuesday, reporters asked Trump about the blockade. “So far, it hasn’t happened, might happen, but we take care of things,” the President told reporters. “If something like that happens, we take care of it. You know, we’ve done that with the Houthis before, and we haven’t heard from them in a while since we did what we did originally.”
Ansar Allah, or the Houthis, have fought multiple wars against US allies since seizing power in Yemen in 2014. In 2014, Ansar Allah seized the capital city and took control over most populated regions in Yemen. Initially, the US worked with Ansar Allah to target Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. However, Saudi Arabia viewed Ansar Allah’s control of Yemen as problematic. Riyadh formed a government-in-exile, which it attempted to install in power with a mass bombing campaign, a blockade, and by backing militias opposed to Ansar Allah.
The Barack Obama administration elected to support Saudi’s war to alleviate Riyadh’s concerns over the Iran Nuclear Deal. The war killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused a cholera epidemic, and the blockade resulted in widespread malnutrition among children.
During the war, Ansar Allah developed missile and drone capabilities that were able to cause significant damage to Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure. While Riyadh and Sanaa agreed to a ceasefire in 2022, they have not reached an agreement to end the war.
In response to the Israeli genocide in Gaza, Ansar Allah closed the Bab al-Mandab Strait to Israeli shipping in 2023. Israel attempted a bombing campaign to break the blockade, but it failed. Additionally, both Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump ordered large-scale strikes on Yemen, leading Ansar Allah to expand the blockade to include American-linked vessels.
Last year, Trump agreed to a ceasefire with Ansar Allah after a Yemeni missile nearly hit an American aircraft carrier. While that truce resulted in Yemen lifting its blockade on American ships, it continued to prevent Israeli ships from transiting the Strait until Tel Aviv and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in October.
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