THE HOUTHIS have an ambitious slogan: it includes “death to America, death to Israel". For decades, that was aspirational. The group was largely limited to fighting its fellow Yemenis and its neighbours on the Arabian peninsula. Yet since October, what was once a scrappy insurgency in desolate northern Yemen has managed to put itself in conflict with both the Middle East’s strongest power and the world’s superpower.

       Early on January 12th American and British warplanes bombed dozens of targets in Yemen. More allied strikes could take place. President Joe Biden said: “I will not hesitate to direct further measures." The strikes followed almost two months of Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. The group says these are a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, and that it is only targeting ships with links to Israel (it has also fired missiles at southern Israel). In practice, though, the attacks have been random, seeming to target any vessel that happens to be within range, including American and British warships. Most of the world’s leading container-shipping companies are now avoiding the Red Sea.

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