CAIRO — Yemen’s Houthis are no longer just a local insurgency — they are going global.
Once just one faction in the civil war in the Middle East’s poorest country, the rebel group has transformed itself into a major regional disruptor, threatening global trade, striking Israel, and forming dangerous alliances with extremist groups in their aim to destabilize the Middle East and the Horn of Africa.
And longtime Yemen watchers predict that not even the tentative ceasefire now in place between Israel and Hamas, a Houthi ally, is likely to change the group’s trajectory, with so much money and influence on the line.
Since November 2023, the Iran-backed group has launched over 250 attacks on commercial and military vessels, forcing global shipping companies to reroute away from the Red Sea and the Suez Canal — a waterway that handles 12% of global trade.
Egypt has suffered devastating economic losses, with Suez Canal revenues down 60% in 2024 and more than $7 billion lost as shipping firms bypass the region. The financial strain has sent Egypt’s current account deficit soaring past $20 billion, further squeezing President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi’s government.
At the same time, the Houthis’ coffers are filling quickly — the United Nations estimates the rebel force earns about $180 million a month from shakedown schemes to allow ships to pass safely in the areas they control.
“The Houthis control key ports and smuggling routes, which are critical for generating revenue,” said Danny Citrinowicz, a former Israel Defense Intelligence official and a senior researcher on Middle Eastern security. “Oil smuggling, arms trafficking, and illicit trade — all feed into their war chest.”
With the announcement of the Israeli-Hamas ceasefire, the Houthis have offered one concession, saying they would only target ship traffic in the Red Sea directly connected to Israel. How long that pledge will hold is deeply uncertain, although a Liberian-flagged crude oil tanker that was attacked in a Houthi missile strike in 2024 successfully passed through the waterway just this week, the Reuters news agency reported.
But it’s not just about money.
The Houthis have weaponized the Red Sea, using a combination of missile strikes, naval drones and piracy threats to project power far beyond Yemen’s borders, furthering the aims of their patron, Iran, to sow instability. Analysts say that helps ensure that their mutual enemies remain focused on security concerns and not stability and economic progress.
Claiming they were acting in solidarity with Palestinian Hamas forces battling Israel in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in November 2023 seized their first commercial vessel, the Galaxy Leader, detaining its 25-member crew for 14 months. The captives — citizens of the Philippines, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, and Mexico — were finally released late last month, after mediation efforts tied to the Gaza ceasefire.
The Houthis claimed the ship was “a legitimate target” due to its ties to an Israeli-affiliated shipping firm, but for months, the crew’s fate remained uncertain. Meanwhile, the U.N. Panel of Experts on Yemen has confirmed that Lebanon-based Hezbollah, another regional ally of Iran, is playing a direct role in supporting Houthi military operations, providing expertise in weapons assembly, battlefield strategy, and financial management.
Houthi Brig. Gen. Yahya Sare’e, the group’s primary spokesperson, has cultivated a strong online following, using platforms like X and the Houthis’ official website to spread propaganda and shape their international image.
The Houthis’ website features interactive maps showcasing U.S. and Saudi airstrikes on Yemen, reinforcing their narrative of resistance and external aggression.
These visual tools are used to rally both local and international sympathizers while attempting to delegitimize coalition military efforts. Gen. Sare’e regularly posts battlefield updates, exaggerated claims of military victories, and threats against Western and Gulf states. His social media presence, followed by tens of thousands, serves as a direct channel for the group’s messaging.
Extracting concessions
According to Nadwa Al-Dawsari, a scholar at the Middle East Institute, the Houthis have consistently demonstrated an ability to use negotiations as a stalling tactic and violence as a means to extract concessions — making it unlikely they will be swayed by even the temporary cessation of hostilities elsewhere in the region.
“The Houthis manipulate ceasefires and peace talks to consolidate power and prolong conflict rather than resolve it,” she said.
On Jan. 5, Gen. Sare’e revealed on his X account that the Houthis had fired a hypersonic Palestine-2 missile at the Orot Rabin power plant, a major facility south of Haifa, Israel. He described the attack as a “successful operation,” calling it part of the Houthis’ “religious, moral and humanitarian duty” to support Palestinians.
The Palestine-2 missile, according to the general, is a newly developed hypersonic weapon capable of traveling at speeds exceeding five times the speed of sound, making interception by Israeli missile defenses significantly more difficult.
Israel has not confirmed damage to the power plant, but Israeli defense officials acknowledge that the Houthis’ missile capabilities have advanced rapidly, increasing concerns about their ability to strike far beyond Yemen’s borders.
The Houthis’ continued activity serves another purpose — to complicate the efforts of Israel and the U.S. to focus on Iran, seen by both as the prime source of instability in the region.
Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, an Emirati political scientist based in Dubai, told The Washington Times that Iran’s strategy is to align disparate militant groups when it serves Tehran’s interests.
“Iran has a longstanding strategy of using proxies to destabilize the region,” he said. “By facilitating limited cooperation between them, Iran ensures that its regional adversaries remain occupied with security concerns.”
Ties to extremists
Perhaps even more concerning is the Houthis’ growing relationship with extremist groups. The U.N. report revealed that the Houthis and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) — which also has operations in Yemen — have agreed to set aside ideological differences in order to weaken the internationally recognized Yemeni government. This cooperation includes weapons transfers, intelligence sharing and joint attacks against government forces.
For AQAP, this means access to smuggling routes and resources. For the Houthis, it ensures that Yemen’s government remains too weak to challenge their rule.
The Houthis have also recruited Ethiopian mercenaries from migrant communities. The U.N. report found evidence that they are paying fighters from Tigray and Oromo Ethiopian tribes salaries ranging from $80 to $100 per month — adding yet another foreign dimension to Yemen’s war.
The new Trump administration has moved aggressively to counter the Houthis’ expanding influence.
President Trump in his first days in office reinstated the group’s official designation as a “foreign terrorist organization,” reversing the Biden administration’s previous decision to delist them in hopes of promoting a political settlement to the country’s civil war and resulting humanitarian crisis.
Mr. Trump’s move aims to cut off Houthi funding sources and disrupt the group’s financial operations, but humanitarian organizations have warned that this could further complicate aid delivery to Yemen, worsening the ongoing crisis.
The war in Yemen has already displaced millions, and the country remains in freefall.
“This year marks a decade of conflict in Yemen,” said Mr. al-Dawsari. “Despite efforts at negotiation, peace remains elusive, and two-thirds of Yemen’s population still requires humanitarian aid, with 4.5 million displaced.”
In addition, the U.S. has intensified military operations against terrorist groups in the region, conducting airstrikes targeting Houthi-controlled arms depots and key infrastructure. On Jan. 8, U.S. Central Command announced it had launched strikes against two Houthi underground advanced conventional weapon storage facilities in Yemen.
These operations were aimed at degrading the Houthis’ ability to launch further attacks while ensuring the security of Red Sea shipping lanes. Senior U.S. officials have emphasized that these actions are meant to disrupt the group’s capabilities while minimizing civilian casualties.
For their part, the Houthis dismissed their redesignation as a FTO as “meaningless theater,” mocking the move in official statements and through their spokesperson Yahya Sare’e on social media.
On social media, Houthi spokesman Yahya Sare’e dismissed the U.S. decision as “desperate and ineffective,” claiming it would have no impact on the rebel force’s operations or financial networks. The group vowed to continue its attacks on Red Sea shipping and Israel, insisting that the designation was proof of “American frustration with the resistance.”
Despite U.S. and British airstrikes, the Houthis remain largely undeterred. “The Houthis are highly adaptive. Saudi Arabia bombed Yemen extensively and failed to break them,” said Mr. Citrinowicz, the former Israeli intelligence official.
“The lesson here is that infrastructure strikes alone won’t do the job. To weaken three things are necessary: targeting their weapons manufacturing, blocking Iranian support via smuggling routes, and striking their leadership to disrupt their internal cohesion.”