Houthis: US terrorist designation shows bias, reflects our support for Palestinians
Yemen’s Houthis said yesterday that Washington’s decision to label the movement a “terrorist organisation” was due to their support for “the plight of the Palestinian people” through targeting ships linked to or heading to Israel.
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On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order designating the Houthis as a “foreign terrorist organisation.” Bringing back a designation he had imposed during his last term in office, which was later reversed by his successor in 2021, President Joe Biden.
Biden’s reversal followed concerns from aid organisations that the classification could force them to leave Yemen, as they are required to engage with the Houthis, who control significant areas of the country, including the capital, Sana’a.
After the outbreak of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza on 7 October 2023, the Houthis launched attacks targeting Israel-linked commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in support of the Palestinians.
In response, the Biden administration last year reclassified the Houthis, on the “Specially Designated Global Terrorists” list. This less restrictive classification allowed humanitarian aid to continue entering Yemen.
Trump’s move on Wednesday seeks to reimpose the more restrictive classification of “foreign terrorist organisations.”
The Houthis’ foreign ministry urged the international community and human rights organisations to denounce the classification, warning that it would have negative repercussions on Yemen’s humanitarian situation.
The executive order issued by Trump stated that the Houthis had “carried out numerous attacks on civilian infrastructure, including several on civilian airports in Saudi Arabia,” and had launched “over 300 projectiles at Israel since October 2023.”
The new classification process could take weeks before it comes into effect.