Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the Houthis had “attacked US warships 174 times and commercial vessels 145 times since 2023”

The campaign put a major strain on the vital route, which normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic, forcing many companies to take a costly detour around southern Africa.

The Iran-backed rebels also fired some 40 ballistic missiles toward Israel from November 2023 until just days before Israel reached the ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas. The Houthis also launched several attack drones at Israel, including one that killed a civilian and wounded several others in Tel Aviv in July 2024

Responding to the attacks, Israel has carried out several waves of strikes on Houthi sites in Yemen.

Hamas, which has praised the Houthi support for its cause, lashed out at the US strikes on Sunday, branding them “a stark violation of international law and an assault on the country’s sovereignty and stability.”