An E/A-18G Growler launches off of the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea on March 23, 2024. The Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group was deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to support maritime security and stability in the Middle East region. (U.S. Navy)
WASHINGTON — U.S. airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen have been insufficient to deter the militant group’s targeting of ships in the Red Sea and a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war might not end the attacks, a senior intelligence official said Thursday.
Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, said U.S.-led efforts to destroy Houthi weapons and storage facilities have had a limited impact as American service members continue to shoot down drones and missiles aimed at commercial and naval ships.
The threat from the group, which is partly financed by Iran, is going to “remain active for some time,” she told the Senate Armed Services Committee during testimony on the intelligence community’s 2024 assessment of threats facing the United States.
“They continue to indigenously produce a fair amount of [drones], other weapons systems and so on and of course, they’re also getting assistance from the Iranians in this respect,” Haines said. “Neither of those things are likely to change in the near future.”
The Houthis launched their campaign against international shipping after Israel began bombing the Gaza Strip in response to a Hamas-led attack on Israel in October. The rebels said their actions are in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
The group has carried out more than 50 assaults on shipping since November, seizing one vessel and sinking another, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration. The pace of attacks dropped recently amid U.S.-led airstrikes in Yemen but picked back up again last week.
Haines said the Houthis have resumed near daily maritime attacks and intend to escalate their strikes and expand them to the Indian Ocean.
National Intelligence Director Avril Haines listens to opening statements Thursday, May 2, 2024, on Capitol Hill during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on worldwide threats. (Joe Gromelski/ Special to Stars and Stripes)
U.S. Central Command, which oversees military activity in the Middle East, said Monday that it destroyed one drone that was on flight path toward the Navy cruiser USS Philippine Sea and the destroyer USS Laboon in the Red Sea.
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group deployed to the region in October as part of a multinational coalition, led by the U.S., to protect maritime commerce.
Haines said Thursday that the Houthis’ leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, is likely to keep up the attacks on military and commercial vessels to burnish his regional reputation. It is unclear if a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas would change that, she said.
Though the group tamped down its activity during a temporary ceasefire in late November, its rationale for attacking shipping has repeatedly shifted and grown more complex, Haines said.
“It’s possible” the Houthis will continue their campaign in the Red Sea as well as the Gulf of Aden even if fighting in Gaza comes to an end, she said. On Saturday, the rebels announced they shot down one of the U.S. military’s $30 million MQ-9 Reaper drones.
Footage the Houthis released of a missile purportedly targeting the drone included a man off-camera reciting the group’s slogan: “God is the greatest. Death to America. Death to Israel. Curse the Jews. Victory to Islam.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
