Houthis Again Target US Carrier In Red Sea Just As Gaza Truce Deal Announced 

Yemen’s Houthis have once again announced that military forces have targeted American warships in the Red Sea. The Pentagon has not offered confirmation, however, and rarely admits to coming under such direct attacks.

The Wednesday statement said missiles and drones were launched against the USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier and other US warships patrolling the Red Sea. It’s unknown whether direct hits resulted, or if all projectiles were intercepted.

“The missile force and the drone air force of the Yemeni Armed Forces … carried out a joint military operation targeting the American aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and a number of its warships in the northern Red Sea with a number of winged missiles and drones, during their attempt to carry out operations to target Yemen,” the statement reads.

“This targeting of the carrier is the sixth since its arrival in the Red Sea,” it added. The Iran-backed group has clearly remained committed and defiant as it blocks Red Sea shipping, despite several rounds of US-UK-Israeli bombing campaigns.

The timing of this attack is interesting given that widespread reports of Hamas and Israeli having achieved a peace deal have persisted over the last 12 hours. President Biden as well as Donald Trump are hailing the deal, which still has to be voted on by Israeli lawmakers, which is set for Thursday morning.

The Houthis have consistently demanded that for it to halt its Red Sea attacks there must be full Israeli military withdrawal from the Strip. 

The Houthi statement said it remains “ready for any American or Israeli escalation and will continue to perform its duties towards the oppressed Palestinian people,” and that “operations will not stop until the aggression stops and the siege on the Gaza Strip is lifted.”

If the promised hostage exchange happens by week’s end, the Houthis might halt these attacks or at least dial them back. Recently several ballistic missiles have been launched on central Israel.

If the Yemeni operations do persist, it could complicate or damage efforts to keep the peace in the Gaza Strip, as it’s already sure to be an extremely delicate and fragile truce. 

The Houthis are claiming that they attacked the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group again. This is the sixth such claim. Here’s what I find interesting: First, this is the first time I’ve seen a consistent campaign about targeting an American CSG. https://t.co/l3AVnd8SEW

— Heather Mongilio (@HMongilio) January 15, 2025

Still, many hurdles remain, and the details of phase 2 are still to be hammered out in phase 1. This leaves the potential for Hamas-Israel fighting to be sparked once again. So far a fragile truce in Lebanon with Hezbollah has held.