Yemen’s Houthi rebels have begun attacking cargo ships in the Red Sea again, just two months after Donald Trump claimed victory in an air campaign against the militant group to stop them.
The Iran-backed group captured and sank a Greek-owned bulk carrier named ‘Magic Seas’ on Tuesday using drones, missiles and rocket-propelled grenades, forcing its 22 crew members to abandon ship.
The Houthis sank another Greek-operated vessel called ‘Eternity C’ on Wednesday, leaving at least four dead and 15 missing.
The attacks come after months of relative calm in the crucial global shipping route that followed a fierce bombing campaign by the Trump administration against the Houthis.
Trump launched the bombings in April to stop a wave of attacks by the militant group against Red Sea ships in response to Israel’s war in Gaza.
The United States carried out more than 1,100 strikes, killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and spent more than $1 billion over the 52-day campaign, U.S. officials told the New York Times.
But the U.S military was not able to gain air superiority over the durable rebel group, and the Houthis were still shooting down American drones and firing at naval ships in the Red Sea 30 days into the war.
Trump announced a truce on 6 May, claiming the Houthis had “capitulated but, more importantly, we will take their word that they say they will not be blowing up ships anymore. And that’s what the purpose of what we were doing.”
“We hit them very hard and they had a great ability to withstand punishment,” he said.
He added that “they gave us their word that they wouldn’t be shooting at ships anymore, and we honor that.”
That did not prove to be the case.
Even at the time, that result seemed unlikely. The Houthis stopped short of declaring a full ceasefire, said that they would continue to fight Israel, and claimed victory for themselves.
The group has continued to fire missiles towards Israel, and Israel has carried out extensive strikes against the Houthis, including against three Yemeni ports and a power plant earlier this week.
The Houthis released a slick propaganda video Tuesday showing the attack on Magic Seas. The footage showed masked men taking control of the ship, then chanting the Houthis' slogan: "God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam." The video ends with explosives planted on the ship being detonated, before it sinks beneath the surface.
The renewed attacks raised the possibility that the U.S. may once again be drawn into a fight against the Houthis, who have proven remarkably resilient to airstrikes over the years.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement that the attacks “demonstrate the ongoing threat that Iran-backed Houthi rebels pose to freedom of navigation and to regional economic and maritime security."
"The United States has been clear: We will continue to take necessary action to protect freedom of navigation and commercial shipping from Houthi terrorist attacks," she added.
The Houthis’ fight with Israel is part of a much wider regional war that was sparked by a surprise attack by Hamas on southern Israel on 7 October, 2023. When Israel bombarded Gaza in response, the Houthis joined the fight on the side of Hamas, firing drones and missiles towards Israel.
The group then widened its attacks to target shipping in the Red Sea, attacking more than 100 ships from November 2023 to December 2024, and promising to end only when Israel ends its war in Gaza, which has now killed more than 55,000 people, mostly civilians.
Former president Joe Biden, Trump’s predecessor, launched airstrikes against Yemen on January 10, 2024, “in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea.”
Those strikes failed to deter the Houthis, and the attacks only stopped when a ceasefire was brokered between Israel and Hamas in January.
The Houthis resumed their attacks when Israel imposed a blockade on food and aid entering Gaza in March, which prompted Trump to launch his own campaign to stop the group.
Announcing the strikes on 15 March, Trump said the Houthis had “waged an unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American, and other, ships, aircraft, and drones.”
"We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective," he wrote on Truth Social, later adding that the campaign was aimed at targeting Houthi leaders and officials.
Trump’s involvement in Yemen drew criticism from his own supporters, who argue it contradicts his promises to end “endless wars” and his “America First” campaign slogan.
