Military analyst Sean Bell says Trump’s latest major strike on Yemen’s Houthis is part of a broader deterrence strategy.
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00:00So, fresh U.S. strikes on Yemen with 74 people dead, search teams still looking for casualties.
00:08How damaging is this attack for the Houthis, who have already been significantly weakened?
00:14Yes, hello, Leanne. Pleasure to join you. Yes, it has been a pretty significant strike,
00:20certainly the deadliest of for some time. Not only the 74 killed, but we understand 171 injured.
00:26And as you say, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the death toll rises.
00:31The target was the Raziza fuel terminal, but apparently 3 million barrels of oil are stored there.
00:39So, it's a pretty significant target and will undoubtedly have degraded.
00:43I think what's interesting here is that the U.S. policy has been ideally to deter the Houthis from conducting attacks.
00:51When that didn't work, they were seeking to degrade them.
00:54Now, of course, the Houthis come out in sympathy with Hamas.
00:59And when the two-month ceasefire happened between Israel and Hamas, the Houthis stopped their attacks.
01:05I was not aware that they had actually resumed those attacks.
01:09But this big stick by President Trump is clearly designed to demonstrate to the Houthis,
01:15probably intelligence-led, that if they are to resume attacks,
01:19they will be dealt with very severely by the Trump administration.
01:22Yes.