U.S. airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen will continue as long as the specially designated global terrorist group continues to pose a threat to Israel and international shipping, a White House adviser told journalists on Friday.
A reporter asked if the Biden administration intends, before leaving office in January, to crush the terrorists. John Kirby, the White House national security communications advisor, said that the focus is on undermining the Houthis’ ability to launch attacks in the Red Sea.
“This is about destroying their ability to conduct these kinds of attacks. It’s not about wiping every Houthi fighter off the map,” Kirby said. “This is about preventing them from hitting commercial and, quite frankly, naval ship activity in and around the Red Sea, as well as helping degrade and prevent their ability to continue to launch drones and missiles at Israel.”
The U.S. military launched “Operation Prosperity Garden” to patrol the coast of Yemen in response to Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping in December 2023.
The Houthis have not attacked a commercial ship since November, according to the nonprofit Yemen Conflict Observatory. But the terror group has launched more than 200 missiles and 170 drones at Israel in support of Hamas since the terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, including a ballistic missile attack on Wednesday that forced millions of Israelis into bomb shelters.
Israel, in turn, has responded with air strikes on Houthi-controlled sites across Yemen this week, including strikes on Sanaa International Airport and a pair of coastal power stations on Thursday.
Following the air strikes, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz suggested that the leaders of the Houthis would meet the same fate as Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.
“We will hunt down all the Houthi leaders. We will strike them, as we have done in other places,” Katz said. “No one will be able to evade Israel’s long reach.”
Kirby told reporters on Friday that U.S. and Israeli airstrikes have weakened the Houthis but have not yet eliminated the terror group’s ability to launch attacks.
“Clearly, they still have some capability to conduct these attacks, and not just against shipping but against the Israeli people as well,” he said. “But we do believe we have further degraded their ability to do so.”
Kirby also said that the Biden administration continues to seek a ceasefire-for-hostages deal between Israel and Hamas before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
“Our backs are to it,” Kirby said. “We would be sharing with you if we had some kind of breakthrough. We’re not there yet.”
“Hamas is the obstacle,” he added. “It is because of Hamas throwing up obstacles or refusing to move on any of these details that we are still not at a conclusion.”
