The State Department on Wednesday said it would redesignate the Houthis as an international terrorist group in response to the Yemen-based militia’s dozens of attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, as well as on Israeli cities and U.S. Navy ships.
The designation of the Houthis as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group will take effect in 30 days to give the Biden administration time to ensure strong carve-outs allowing humanitarian aid to continue for Yemen, parts of which are devastated from years of civil war and a Saudi-led coalition bombing campaign.
The Houthis control much of northern Yemen and are a quasi-governmental entity there. The Houthis were designated in the final days of the Trump administration as a SDGT, as well as the more well-known category of Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), resulting in commercial entities halting transactions with nonprofits in Yemen and imperiling the delivery of food and fuel into the Arabian Peninsula country.
