U.S. forces are continuing strikes on Houthi sites in Yemen that began over the weekend, Pentagon officials told reporters on Monday, and the strikes will continue until the terrorist group agrees to stop shooting at ships in the Red Sea.
The Houthis had apparently not attacked a ship since January, when Israel and Hamas agreed a ceasefire, but said last week that they would respond to Israel’s airstrikes and food blockade in Gaza by resuming attacks on “Israeli ships”—whose loose definition has in the past included a broad swath of vessels.
Saturday’s initial wave of U.S. airstrikes struck 30 targets, including weapons plants and depots, training sites, and drone-launching sites, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the Joint Staff’s operations director.
“Today, the operation continues, and it will continue in the coming days until we achieve the president’s objectives,” Grynkewich said at the new administration’s first on-the-record Pentagon briefing.
The strikes are part of a new direction for the administration, according to Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.
“I think President Trump has made it very clear that he’s put Iran on notice,” Parnell said.
Iran has long been the Houthis’ “main benefactor,” as the Associated Press put it, supplying the U.S.-designated terrorist group with weapons, gear, and military trainers and experts.
Parnell added that the strikes will be “relentless” until the Houthis stop attacking U.S. ships.
The Houthis had been attacking civilian and then naval vessels along the Yemeni coasts since October 2023, about a month after Hamas launched its attack on Israel. The attacks turned into what the Associated Press called “the most intense running sea battle the U.S. navy has faced since World War II.” Then in January, as Israel and Hamas negotiators talked, the Houthis said they would suspend their maritime campaign when the sides reached a ceasefire. (The group did fire a missile at a U.S. fighter jet in late February, but missed, U.S. officials told Reuters at the time. The Houthis also reportedly shot down another American MQ-9 Reaper drone about two weeks later.)
But earlier this month, Israel instituted a blockade on food and aid to Gaza and began increasing airstrikes against Hamas. In response, the Houthis said on March 12 that they would step up attacks on “Israeli ships.”
After the new U.S. wave of airstrikes began over the weekend, the group claimed they retaliated against the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman, Gynkewich said, but they actually missed by “over 100 miles.”
The Pentagon is still doing a battle damage assessment from the weekend’s strikes, but Grynkewich said very rough estimates are in the dozens for military casualties in Yemen. That included a drone facility with “several key leaders,” he added.
“We, of course, have seen some of the accusations by the Houthis,” Grynkewich said. “We look at those closely when they do come in, but we have no credible indications of any civilian casualties.”
The officials didn’t give a clear answer when asked if deploying troops to Yemen is on the table as an option to definitively degrade Houthi capabilities.
“It’s very difficult, if not impossible, for us to talk about force posture from this podium, because … it’s very, very important to keep the enemy guessing,” Parnell said. “Now that’s not to say that we’ve got ground troops in Yemen. That’s not to say that we’re sending ground troops in, but it’s difficult to talk about that stuff for operational security reasons from the podium.”
The U.S. is being deliberate with the strikes, Grynkewich added.
“While we won’t talk about it publicly, just know that there is a design to the operation,” he said. “There are specific effects that we’re trying to achieve, and there’s specific targets that have been selected and approaches that we’re taking in order to achieve the president’s end state. So it isn’t that we’re just striking capabilities. There’s an intent behind every strike and every target that we go after.”
Bradley Peniston contributed to this report.
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