President Donald Trump says the Houthis have announced to the USA last night that they no longer want to fight. There is a ceasefire for now between the US and Yemen. The US will stop or pause bombing in Yemen as this plays out. The US stepped up air strikes on the Houthis in March and the US military says it has struck 1,000 targets in Yemen since then.
The Houthis began attacking shipping passing through the Red Sea in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, who have been under bombardment by the Israeli military since the Palestinian armed group Hamas attacked Israeli communities in October 2023.
Houthis have launched dozens of missile and drone attacks on commercial ships, sinking two vessels, seizing a third and killing four crew members. The attacks forced even major shipping companies to stop using the Red Sea – through which almost 15% of global seaborne trade usually passes – and to take a much longer route around southern Africa instead.
Israel hit and destroyed an airport in Yemen, yesterday. The Israeli military has said it “fully disabled” Yemen’s main airport in the capital Sanaa, which is controlled by the Houthis. Tuesday’s strikes targeted three civilian planes, the departures hall, the runway and a military air base. Israel began responding on Monday by striking the Yemeni port city of Hudaydah, then targeted Sanaa airport the next day.
Israel will move the people in Gaza to the South of the Gaza strip. Israel will increase the ground operation.
Last month, the Houthis said at least 68 African migrants were killed in a US air strike on a detention centre in north-western Yemen.
The Houthis have continued firing missiles towards Israel, with one missile landing near Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv on Sunday.
On Tuesday Israel responded with a large-scale attack on Yemen’s main international airport in the capital Sanaa, which left it “completely destroyed” according to an airport official.
March 15, 2025 40+ US air raids took place across Yemen, mainly in the capital of Sanaa and in Saada Governorate. The strikes, which US officials described as the largest military attack of Trump’s second term, were carried out by fighter jets from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, stationed in the northern Red Sea, and United States Air Force attack planes and armed drones launched from regional bases. The strikes had killed the Houthis’ “top missile guy” and 50 other dead and 98 wounded.
March 16, 2025 Airstrikes hit military headquarters, weapon storage facilities, and detection equipment used to locate shipping. Al-Masirah reported two US strikes in Al Hudaydah. Saudi news outlet AlHadath reported that the security chief of Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi was killed in Saada. US airstrikes in Al Jawf Governorate killed three Houthi officials, including Commander Zain al Abidin al Mahtouri in al Hazm. The Houthis claimed that they targeted the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman using 18 ballistic and cruise missiles and a drone.
On the night of March 17/18, the United States launched a wave of strikes targeting Houthi and IRGC targets, reportedly inflicting casualties on both.
March 19, at least 10 strikes were conducted by the US in Sanaa and Al Hudaydah.
Continued daily strikes from March 20-28.
72 USA strikes in March 29.
Heavier level of airstrikes daily from March 30-May 5. Usually about 20-30 strikes per day. US killed about 500 Houthis fighters and a lot of Houthis leadership.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.
*ahem* Maybe because “…the Red Sea – through which almost 15% of global seaborne trade usually passes”?
While I couldn’t care less about Houthi’s, why are we still the worlds police? I thought we were backing out of that role? It makes the world hate us, while we spend capital we don’t have, and on what…a game of whack-a-mole?
Shipping lanes
Because they harass and target ships for international trade including US ships.
Because U.S. has enormous advantages in projecting power globally. Trump may think that everyone is ripping the U.S. off and nations should defend themselves, but the truth is that after WWII the U.S. REALLY did not want other nations to be military independent. U.S. grew their military capabilities forcing their allies to keep their armies small, so such armies to be at least somehow effective had to invest more in tech than the US provided allowing bigger economies of scale for military R&D (because the cost could be spread to the expenditure of US + allies combined). US won WWII and set the rules. And for US to have cheap US debt, stable USD as reserve currency, cheap imports and a network of trading partners, US was a stable defence provider because the safety of the trading partners made goods cheaper for US as there was no risk premium on trading.
I’m well aware of the Bretton Woods era.
It’s over.
No, is not over, sure Trump is destroying what US took almost a 80 years to build, but it is not over.
Until the US can service its debt at a fraction of the real cost because oil and many other commodities are still globally traded in dollars, the US will have to make sure that its trading partners are not under some other military influence, and trading routes are kept open.
Maybe in the US, the narrative is that the US is the “global police” for the goodness of their heart, but the truth is, the US military serves US global influence, and indeed the US does not intervene in certain antidemocratic regimes that are aligned to US interests (for example, Saudi Arabia).