The Houthi movement, also known as Ansar Allah, is an Islamist rebel movement fighting in the Yemen Civil War.
They are primarily made up of Shia Muslims and their name comes from their leadership being primarily from the Houthi tribe.
The group is thought to have its roots to Yemeni youth movements but were believed to have become radicalized and eventually emerged in the early 2000s as an opposition movement against then-Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Its leader at the time, Hussein al-Houthi, was killed by Yemeni troops in 2004. Abdul-Malik al-Houthi currently leads the organization.
The Houthis aided in the overthrow of Saleh in the 2011 Yemeni Revolution, and in 2014, they managed to seize control of the capital city of Saana, sparking the still-ongoing Yemeni civil war.
Widely believed to be an Iran-backed proxy group, the Houthis are also known for their antisemitic views. Their slogan is "God is the Greatest. Death to America. Death to Israel. A Curse Upon the Jews. Victory to Islam."
Following the October 7 massacre in 2023, the Houthis began launching numerous ballistic missile and drone strikes against Israel, as well as attacking ships in the Red Sea. This has launched numerous tit-for-tat strikes between Ansar Allah and the Jewish state.
To the Iranian leadership that "funds, arms, and operates the Houthi terrorist organization: the era of proxies is over, and the axis of evil has collapsed."
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In the past, Oman has successfully facilitated several deals to release American hostages held by the Houthis, former US Ambassador to Oman Sievers tells the Post.
This follows President Donald Trump's Tuesday announcement that the US would stop bombing the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen, saying that the group had agreed to stop attacking US ships.
The IDF carried out an airstrike on Yemen's main airport in Sanaa on Tuesday, its second attack in two days on the Iran-aligned Houthis.
During the strike, some six planes were destroyed, among which three were of a Yemenite airline.
Iran wants a deal with the US, and it wants to have amicable relations with Europe today.
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For the Islamic Republic of Iran, a 'great storm' is coming – a convergence of economic despair, massive military defeats, internal disillusionment, and a US maximum pressure campaign.
“We were completely shocked. Israel was not informed before Trump made the statement,” an Israeli official told The 'Post'.
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