Al Shabaab

On October 19, 2023, Yemen’s Ansar Allah began launching missiles and armed drones at Israel, demanding an end to its war and blockade on the Gaza Strip. More significantly, they began seizing and launching aerial attacks against dozens of merchant and naval vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden that were carrying cargo to and from Israel. In Arabic, Ansar Allah means “Supporters of God.” It is a Shia Islamist political and military nationalist organization that emerged in Yemen in the 1990s. The group is commonly but disrespectfully referred to as “the Houthis,” a term which has a derogatory tribalist connotation.