UK, US Preparing To Carry Out Offensive Strikes On Yemen's Houthis: Reports

Chatter and rumors are growing on reports that the Western coalition is cobbling together a plan to go on the offensive against continuing Houthi attacks in the Red Sea... "If approved in the emergency UK cabinet meeting tonight, the military action will be in partnership with the US against Houthi forces in Yemen," journalist Halah Jaber, formerly of the Sunday Times, has reported on X.

Additionally, al-Arabiya has reported Thursday afternoon that the US military is "stepping up its contingency plans for a response to Yemen's Houthis in the near future" while also noting that Washington's "multiple warnings" have failed to stop the attacks.

So far there's been a lot of empty threats and posturing from Western defense leaders, but after at least 25 significant missile and drone attack incidents against commercial vessels and shipping lanes in the Red Sea, there's yet to be one instance of US or UK or other coalition warships hitting back directly against Houthi launch positions.

As predicted, the Iran-aligned Houthis have only grown bolder:

The leader of Yemen’s Houthi militia vowed on Thursday to intensify assaults on ships in the Red Sea, Bab El-Mandab, and the Gulf of Aden, only hours after the UN Security Council passed a resolution requesting the Houthis to stop their attacks.

The Houthis have boldly and proudly owned up to directly targeting at least one US Navy warship, and are now vowing more: 

And he reiterated threats to attack US Navy vessels more forcefully if they targeted his forces. "The retaliation to any American strike will not only be at the level of the current operation, which included more than 24 drones and multiple missiles, but will be larger," Al-Houthi added.

The referenced Tuesday night attack was the biggest thus far of the war (since Oct.7), and the Houthis said they were specifically trying to hit a US warship amid the barrage of projectiles that also included drones.

Meanwhile a fresh op-ed in The Guardian underscores that the Houthis have already called the West's bluff regarding to weakness that is 'Operation Prosperity Guardian':

But the risks of a Houthi drone getting through are potentially worse, spurring arguments in Washington that the US should take a more active approach.

“If we only sit there in a defensive posture, eventually one of these missiles or drones will get through and kill sailors,” said Michael Allen, a former White House national security policy specialist.

The Houthis can continue bleeding Western navies given they use $20,000 drones to draw a response from $1 million anti-air interceptor missiles.

The Guardian underscores that for this reason it's "hard to see the emboldened Houthis stopping their campaign, given their access to relatively cheap missiles and drones and desire to show resistance to the west."