Houthi rebels

Extracted Attributes

• Type

  Zaydi revivalist and Islamist political and military organization

• Origin

  Yemen

• Founder

  Hussein al-Houthi

• Ideology

  Zaydi Shia, anti-United States, anti-Israel, anti-Saudi Arabia, economic development, end of Zaydi Shia marginalization

• Designation

  Terrorist organization (by some countries)

• Official Name

  Ansar Allah

• Current Leader

  Abdul-Malik al-Houthi

• Founding Period

  1990s

• Estimated Fighters

  Approximately 20,000 (as of web search results)

• Territory Controlled

  One-third of Yemen's territory, two-thirds of its population (as of web search results)

• Government Recognition

  Only by Iran (as of web search results)

Timeline

• The Houthis, officially Ansar Allah, emerged as a Zaydi revivalist and Islamist political and military organization in Yemen. (Source: Summary)

  1990s

• Influenced by Hezbollah, the Houthis adopted their official slogan against the United States, Israel, and the Jews. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2003-XX-XX

• Hussein al-Houthi, the group's founder, was killed by the Yemeni military in Saada, sparking the Houthi insurgency. (Source: Summary)

  2004-XX-XX

• The organization participated in the Yemeni Revolution, joining street protests and coordinating with other opposition groups. (Source: Summary)

  2011-XX-XX

• The Houthis joined Yemen's National Dialogue Conference. (Source: Summary)

  2011-XX-XX

• The Houthis rejected the 2011 reconciliation deal. (Source: Summary)

  2014-XX-XX

• In late 2014, the Houthis allied with former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and seized control of the capital city, Sanaa. (Source: Summary)

  2014-XX-XX

• The Houthi takeover prompted a Saudi-led military intervention, escalating the conflict into an ongoing civil war. (Source: Summary)

  2015-03-XX

• Houthi rebels launched an offensive to seize Marib, the last stronghold of Yemen’s internationally recognized government. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2021-02-XX

• Houthi rebels conducted missile air strikes in Saudi Arabia, targeting oil tankers, facilities, and international airports. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2021-03-XX

• Following the outbreak of the Gaza war, the Houthis began firing missiles at Israel and attacking ships off Yemen's coast in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. (Source: Summary)

  2023-10-XX

• The United States and Yemen’s Houthi rebels agreed to cease hostilities against each other, mediated by Oman. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2025-05-06

• An Israeli attack on Sanaa airport destroyed the last passenger plane operated by Yemenia Airways. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2025-05-06

• Israel launched strikes on Sanaa airport and Hodeidah port after Houthi missiles hit near Tel Aviv. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2025-05-07

Houthis

The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Zaydi revivalist and Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaydis, whose namesake leadership is drawn largely from the al-Houthi family. The group has been a central player in Yemen's civil war, drawing widespread international condemnation for its human rights abuses, including targeting civilians and using child soldiers. The movement is designated as a terrorist organization by some countries. The Houthis are backed by Iran, and they are widely considered part of the Iranian-led "Axis of Resistance". Under the leadership of Zaydi religious leader Hussein al-Houthi, the Houthis emerged as an opposition movement to Yemen president Ali Abdullah Saleh, whom they accused of corruption and being backed by Saudi Arabia and the United States. In 2003, influenced by the Lebanese Shia political and military organization Hezbollah, the Houthis adopted their official slogan against the United States, Israel, and the Jews. Al-Houthi resisted Saleh's order for his arrest, and was afterwards killed by the Yemeni military in Saada in 2004, sparking the Houthi insurgency. Since then, the movement has been mostly led by his brother Abdul-Malik al-Houthi. The organization took part in the Yemeni Revolution of 2011 by participating in street protests and coordinating with other Yemeni opposition groups. They joined Yemen's National Dialogue Conference but later rejected the 2011 reconciliation deal. In late 2014, the Houthis repaired their relationship with Saleh, and with his help they took control of the capital city. The takeover prompted a Saudi-led military intervention to restore the internationally recognized government, leading to an ongoing civil war which included missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia and its ally United Arab Emirates. Following the outbreak of the Gaza war, the Houthis began to fire missiles at Israel and to attack ships off Yemen's coast in the Red Sea, which they say is in solidarity with the Palestinians and aiming to facilitate entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The Houthi movement attracts followers in Yemen by portraying themselves as fighting for economic development and the end of the political marginalization of Zaydi Shias, as well as by promoting regional political–religious issues in its media. The Houthis have a complex relationship with Yemen's Sunnis; the movement has discriminated against Sunnis but has also allied with and recruited them. The Houthis aim to govern all of Yemen and support external movements against the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. Because of the Houthis' ideological background, the conflict in Yemen is widely seen as a front of the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy war.

Web Search Results

• Iran's Support of the Houthis: What to Know

  The Houthis are a local rebel movement that currently rules a third of Yemen’s territory and two-thirds of its population. They revolted against the internationally recognized government in 2011 and overthrew it in 2014. Yemen’s civil war continues today, with its front lines largely frozen. The Houthis’ government, based in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, is recognized only by Iran and is influenced by strict readings of Islamic law and local caste-based traditions. The Houthis’ infamous, [...] Iranian support has boosted the military prowess of Yemen’s Houthi rebels, helping them project force into the Red Sea. Ramped up U.S.-led attacks on the group raise the prospect of military escalation with Iran. [...] The Houthis are formally known as Ansar Allah (Supporters of God in Arabic), but their popular name refers to the movement’s leaders, who come from northern Yemen’s Houthi tribe. Originally a political movement, the Houthis militarized in the late 2000s, fighting wars against Yemen’s government. They command some twenty thousand fighters, a mix of tribal forces and troops formerly loyal to the government. The Houthi movement is rooted in Zaidism, also known as “Fiver” Shiite Islam573914_EN.pdf

• Conflict in Yemen and the Red Sea | Global Conflict Tracker

  In February 2021, Houthi rebelslaunchedan offensive to seize Marib, the last stronghold of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, and in early March, Houthi rebels conductedmissile air strikesin Saudi Arabia, including targeting oil tankers and facilities and international airports. The Saudi-led coalitionrespondedto the increase in attacks with air strikes targeting Sanaa. The offensive was the deadliest clash since 2018,killing hundredsof fighters andcomplicatingpeace processes. [...] Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when Houthi insurgents—Shiite rebels with links to Iran and a history of rising up against the Sunni government—took controlof Yemen’s capital and largest city, Sanaa,demandinglower fuel prices and a new government. Following failed negotiations, the rebelsseizedthe presidential palace in January 2015, leading President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government toresign. Beginning in March 2015, a coalition of Gulf states led by Saudi Arabialauncheda campaign of [...] May 6, 2025 The United States and Yemen’s Houthi rebels agreed to cease hostilities against each other, mediator Oman said; the United States had carried out a military campaign against the Iran-backed group for almost two months (Reuters). The agreement comes as Oman also helps with nuclear negotiations between Washington and Tehran (Bloomberg). It does not apply to hostilities between the Houthis and Israel, which struck the main airport in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa (_WaPo_).

• Who are the Houthis and why is the US targeting them? - BBC

  Formally known as the Ansar Allah (Partisans of God), the group emerged in the 1990s and takes its name from the movement's late founder, Hussein al-Houthi. The current leader is his brother, Abdul Malik al-Houthi. In the early 2000s, the Houthis fought a series of rebellions against Yemen's long-time authoritarian president, Ali Abdullah Saleh. They wanted greater autonomy for the group's homeland in the north of Yemen. [...] The Houthis are an armed political and religious group which champions Yemen's Shia Muslim minority, the Zaidis. They declare themselves to be part of the Iranian-led "axis of resistance" against Israel, the US and the wider West - along with armed groups such as Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah movement. [...] # Who are the Houthis and why is the US targeting them? EPA Houthi supporters carry weapons during a protest against Israel's blockade of Gaza aid in Sana'a, Yemen, 11 March 2025. The start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023 brought a new kind of conflict to prominence, with Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

• Yemen's Houthis mull how they can help ally Iran against Israel

  Yemen’s Houthis mull how they can help ally Iran against Israel | Israel-Iran conflict News | Al Jazeera =============== Skip linksSkip to Content Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree speaks at a rally against the United States and Israel in Sanaa, Yemen, on Friday, April 18, 2025 [Osamah Abdulrahman/AP Photo] ByJustin Salhani Published On 20 Jun 2025 20 Jun 2025 As the war between Israel and Iran continues, Yemen’s Houthi rebels say they are coordinating with Tehran. [...] “Yemen will do the same, and will cancel the agreement with the US, because it’s not in the interest of Iran, which is an important ally of Yemen,” he said, referring to the Houthi rebel group as “Yemen”, although the group’s government is not recognised internationally. [...] The Houthi attacks are essentially a continuation of their previous periodic missile and drone attacks on Israel. The Israelis have mostly been able to intercept the attacks but some have gotten through, most notably an attack in early May on Ben Gurion airport that injured six people and led to a suspension of flights. Advertisement But the Houthi attacks have also had another consequence for Israeli defences, according to Yemen expert Nicholas Brumfield.

• Houthis | Today's latest from Al Jazeera

  ![A handout picture released by the Huthi-affiliated branch of the Yemeni News Agency SABA on May 6, 2025, shows a burning airplane at Sanaa international airport after Israel's military warplanes struck Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa. [SABA via AFP] (AFP)](/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AFP__20250506__44PA2NQ__v1__HighRes__YemenIsraelPalestinianConflict-1746559466.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80) ### Yemen’s Houthis vow retaliation after Israeli attacks on Sanaa [...] # Houthis ### Video: Israeli attack in Yemen destroys airline’s ‘last plane’ An Israeli attack on Sanaa airport has destroyed the last passenger plane operated by the country’s main airline. ### Israel attacks Yemen’s Sanaa airport; Houthis say won’t deter Gaza support Four strikes hit the runway and a Yemenia Airways plane, according to Houthi-affiliated media report. Members of the media take pictures of a destroyed plane. ### Israel launches strikes on two Yemen ports [...] Israel bombed Sanaa airport and Hodeidah port after Houthi missiles hit near Tel Aviv, prompting fears of wider war. ![People, including airport staff, inspect the damage at Sanaa's international airport in the aftermath of an Israeli air strike, in Sanaa, Yemen, May 7, 2025 [Khaled Abdullah/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-05-07T070522Z_747081030_RC2VCEACHWTL_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-YEMEN-1746658632.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)