Since 12 January 2024, the United States and the United Kingdom, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, have launched a series of cruise missile and airstrikes, codenamed Operation Poseidon Archer, against the Houthi movement in Yemen in response to Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea. The Houthis had previously declared that their attacks are in support of Palestinians during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war; Houthi attacks on shipping were condemned by the United Nations Security Council the day before the initial strike.

The Houthi movement, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Shia Islamist political and military movement that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaidi Shias, with their namesake leadership being drawn largely from the Houthi tribe.