A bipartisan group of House members sought more details on May 9 about the recent U.S. deal with the Houthis to stop the terror group’s attacks on American ships in the Red Sea.
U.S. President Donald Trump called for a cessation of missile strikes between the two sides but was silent about ongoing attacks against Israel by the Houthis, an Iran-funded group in Yemen. The group, aligned with Hamas, has said that it will continue targeting Israel.
In a letter to Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the acting U.S. national security adviser, Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Don Bacon (R-Neb.) expressed concern that the agreement between Washington and the Houthis leaves Israel on the sidelines.
“We urge the administration to engage closely with our Israeli partners to ensure that any diplomatic or military arrangements fully protect Israel’s security interests and do not embolden Iranian proxies,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter, which Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) and Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) also signed.
The five members of Congress asked for “a timely briefing rooted in a strategy that defends our allies, restores deterrence and reaffirms our global leadership.”
The briefing should include the full details of the agreement with the Houthis, an assessment of the group’s ability to target the State of Israel and information on how Iran has been able to keep them supplied with weapons, the congressmen wrote.
“After months of sustained operations, including more than 800 U.S. and coalition air and missile strikes, the Houthis remain not only operational, but increasingly emboldened, regularly launching ballistic missiles toward Israeli territory,” the lawmakers wrote.
“This is unacceptable,” they added. “The fact that such a deal was made despite the Houthis’ continued aggression underscores a troubling lack of strategic coherence.”