A timeline of President Biden's decision to strike the Houthis – the first major U.S. military response to the group’s ongoing attacks on commercial ships in a critical international trade area👇

Dec. 2023: The U.S. military drew up forceful options against the Houthis as early as the first week of December. But at that point, senior Biden officials — who worried that hitting the Houthis could provoke Iran and widen the Israel-Hamas conflict into a regional war — agreed striking the group was not the best course.

Jan. 1: Biden spoke with his national security team after Iran-backed Houthis launched yet another attack on international shipping in the Red Sea. He was ready to discuss a military response, but at the same time directed his team to push for a diplomatic solution.

Jan. 3: The U.S. and 13 other countries issued a statement warning the Houthis that they would bear the full “consequences” of any further attacks. But that did little to deter the group.

Jan. 9: The Houthis launched their largest attack yet, launching drones and missiles toward U.S. commercial and military ships. This marked a turning point for U.S. officials.

Jan. 11: The U.S. and its allies launched a massive retaliatory assault against the Houthis aimed at hurting their ability to continue their attacks. The joint assault targeted radar systems, storage and launch sites for drones, cruise and ballistic missiles across “a large area of Yemen”; no civilians were assessed to be present at the sites, a Defense Dept official told us.