(SeaPRwire) –   Yemen’s Houthi movement declared its involvement in the Iran war by launching a series of ballistic missiles at southern Israel on Saturday, creating a new theater in a regional conflict that President Donald Trump has stated is nearing conclusion. 

Brigadier-General Yahya Saree, a military spokesperson for the Iran-aligned group, stated in a message aired on a Houthi satellite network that the attack aimed at “sensitive Israeli military locations”. 

He further noted that the attacks would persist “until the aggression against all resistance fronts stops,” in reference to Iran and its ally Hezbollah.  

The Israeli military reported detecting a missile launch from Yemen and “neutralizing the threat.”

The Houthis have issued repeated warnings that they would join the war on Iran’s side, with Iran having provided them with ballistic missile technology for many years.   

The group’s long-anticipated entry into the conflict introduces a new front to the regional war that started on Feb. 28 with a combined U.S.-Israeli strike on Iran that resulted in the death of the country’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. 

Over the past month, Iran’s retaliatory strikes have hit U.S. bases throughout the Gulf, key Gulf infrastructure, and significantly reduced shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. 

These attacks have dramatically affected global oil and energy prices, causing U.S. gas prices to surge.  

Another Strait   

Between November 2023 and January 2025, the Houthis had a similarly disproportionate impact on global shipping by targeting more than 100 merchant ships in the Red Sea as part of a show of solidarity with Palestinians during the Gaza war. 

During that same time, the group frequently fired missiles at Israel—though most were intercepted. Israel retaliated with intense airstrikes on Houthi targets in Sanaa and throughout the group’s areas of control.

Thomas Juneau, a professor at the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and an associate fellow at Chatham House, tells TIME that if Houthi attacks stay confined to a few direct strikes on Israel, “they won’t have a significant effect on how the war progresses.” 

“As we witnessed in previous strike cycles, Israeli anti-missile systems can intercept most Houthi missiles and drones; those that get past Israeli defenses have done only minor damage,” he explains. 

However, if the group chooses to target Red Sea shipping once more, the situation would shift. 

“The Houthis would have a far more substantial impact on the war if they began targeting maritime shipping in the Red Sea and attempted to block the Bab al-Mandab Strait. This would increase the war’s already significant effects on oil and natural gas prices and the global economy,” he states.

Strikes on the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait would probably disrupt traffic through the Suez Canal, which handles roughly 15% of global maritime trade—including 30% of container ship traffic—annually. 

Who are the Houthis?

The Houthis are a Yemeni political and military organization that arose in the 2000s and now holds sway over most of northern Yemen. Named after its founder, Hussein al-Houthi, the group is rooted in the Zaydi branch of Shia Islam. 

While they receive support from and are allied with Iran, the Houthis are not a simple proxy, as they often prioritize their own domestic concerns. Additionally, even though Iran has provided them with advanced ballistic missile technology, the group has also developed the capability to assemble and produce its own weapons within Yemen. 

The group gained prominence after seizing Sanaa in 2014. This triggered a brutal civil war against the internationally recognized government and a Saudi Arabia-led bombing campaign. The Houthis showed remarkable resilience against that air campaign, which had U.S. backing and resulted in the deaths of approximately 9,000 civilians.

Since then, the group has been targeted by two bombing campaigns from two consecutive U.S. administrations.

Joe Biden, Trump’s predecessor, initiated airstrikes on Yemen on January 10, 2024, “as a direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks on international maritime vessels in the Red Sea.”

Those strikes did not deter the Houthis and only ended when a ceasefire was negotiated between Israel and Hamas in January 2025.

The Houthis restarted their attacks after Israel imposed a blockade on food and aid entering Gaza in March 2025.

Trump launched his own bombing campaign in April 2025 to halt those attacks, which concluded when the Trump Administration reached a deal with the Houthis in May: airstrikes would end if the group stopped targeting shipping. The agreement did not include a provision to halt attacks on Israel, which continued until a ceasefire was eventually achieved in Gaza.

After securing a truce with the Houthis, Trump remarked about the group: “We hit them extremely hard. They had a remarkable ability to endure punishment.” 

“You might say there’s a great deal of courage there,” he added. 

‘Outlast the war itself’

The Houthi missile launches occur as the U.S. and Iran are reportedly holding indirect negotiations for the first time since the war started, and Trump’s top officials are indicating the war could end in weeks—even without any visible diplomatic progress. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Friday that U.S. military operations were expected to wrap up in “weeks, not months”.

Trump has also suggested that his Administration’s goals in Iran have been met and indicated the war could end within the four-to-six-week timeframe the White House originally outlined.  

“We estimated it would take roughly four to six weeks to accomplish our mission, and we’re well ahead of schedule,” the President said during a Cabinet meeting on Thursday.  “When you look at the destruction we’ve inflicted on that country, I mean, we’re far ahead.” 

Juneau notes that the Houthis might be able to have some limited impact on Trump’s timeline. 

“The answer here hinges on whether the Houthis escalate further or not,” he explains. 

“If Houthi involvement stays limited to occasional strikes on Israel that cause minimal or no damage, the U.S. calculation won’t change much. But if the Houthis resume attacking Red Sea shipping, pressure on President Trump will increase—since the impact on oil prices and the global economy will be greater.” 

“Importantly, this impact will outlast the war itself due to growing supply chain disruptions—and this could harm Republicans more as we get closer to the November midterm elections,” he adds.