US imposes more sanctions on Yemen’s Houthis amid escalation with Israel | News of the Houthis

Washington, DC – The United States has imposed new sanctions against the Houthis as the Yemeni group continues to trade with Israel amid the Gaza war.

The US Treasury announced sanctions on Thursday against Hashem al-Madani, the governor of the central bank in Sanaa controlled by the Houthis, and several Houthi officials and companies associated with them, accusing them of helping the group to obtain “two parts to use and weapons.”.

The US Treasury has described al-Madani as “the main overseer of funds sent to the Houthis” by the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Yemen has two competing central banks, one in the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa, which serves areas of the country controlled by the rebel group, and the other in Aden in areas of the country controlled by the internationally recognized government and other anti-Houthi groups.

Treasury chief Bradley Smith said the sanctions were aimed at disrupting the Houthis’ efforts to “get more money”.

“The United States will continue to expose these plans and will hold accountable those who want to weaken the activities of the Houthis,” said Smith in a statement.

Thursday’s moves suggest Washington will continue to increase economic pressure on the Houthis as US and Israeli forces target areas controlled by the group in Yemen.

The sanctions freeze the assets of firms and individuals in the US and make it illegal for Americans to engage in financial transactions with them.

The US sanctions came hours after Israel bombed targets in Yemen, including power stations near Sanaa, killing at least nine people.

The Israeli bombing follows the launch of missiles by the Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, towards Tel Aviv.

A Yemeni group has targeted Israel with aerial bombs and missiles in an attempt to pressure the US coalition to end the war in Gaza, where US-backed Israeli forces have killed more than 45,000 people.

The Iran-aligned Houthis have also been attacking shipping lanes in and around the Red Sea as part of a similar campaign they say is supporting the Palestinians.

The US and the United Kingdom have been bombing Houthi targets in Yemen for months in response to the Red Sea offensive.

Washington has also listed the Houthis as “specially designated international terrorists”, a move aimed at squeezing the group’s finances.

But military campaigns and sanctions have not hindered the Yemeni group’s operations.

Ansar Allah leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi said on Thursday that “Israeli violence” will not change the Houthis’ stance in supporting the Palestinians.

“We are facing a challenge and we continue to grow,” he said in a televised speech. “We don’t care about what the enemy does. We are at war and we are clearly facing them.”

Later in the day, the Houthis claimed another drone attack against Israel, saying they were ready for a “long war with this enemy”.

Palestinian groups have been praising the Houthis for their military campaign. Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas’s Qassam Brigades, expressed support for the Yemeni group on Thursday after what he called a “terrorist” attack on Israel.

“We commend the strong position of our Yemeni brothers in supporting Gaza and ask them to increase their offensive until [Israeli] the job is to move and end the killing of people,” he said in a statement.

United Nations experts and rights groups have accused Israel of carrying out the massacre in Gaza – an attempt to destroy the Palestinian people. A report by Brown University’s Watson Institute found that the US gave Israel $17.9bn in military aid in the first year of the war.

Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, also said the “brave” Houthi missile attack on Tel Aviv set an example to show that “Palestinians are not alone”.

After Lebanon’s Hezbollah reached a fragile ceasefire agreement with Israel last month, the Houthis became one of Iran’s allies to confront Israel directly.

A Lebanese group on Thursday condemned Israel’s bombing of “civil infrastructure” in Yemen.

“We call on all free people and opposition forces to unite in the face of this ongoing violence against our people,” Hezbollah said in a statement.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Houthis should rethink their military campaigns after the setbacks the Iran-allied group has faced in recent months, including the damage Israel has inflicted on Hezbollah.

“Will they be alone there?” Blinken said about the Houthis. “And some of what we’re seeing now suggests that they might be looking at moving in another direction.”

Hours after the top US diplomat delivered his remarks, a group in Yemen fired two missiles towards Tel Aviv.