Operation Prosperity Guardian

Operation Prosperity Guardian is a <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a>-led <a href="/facts/Military_operation/t4bo3xGX">military operation</a> by a multinational <a href="/facts/Military_coalition/UBKPe3tX">coalition</a> formed in December 2023 to respond to <a href="/facts/Red_Sea_crisis/YgbjEzqF">Houthi-led attacks on shipping in the Red Sea</a>.
Following the breakout of the <a href="/facts/Gaza_war/dmUoIpBw">Gaza war</a> in October 2023, the <a href="/facts/Houthi_movement/Cvhyfktz">Houthi movement</a> in Yemen launched a series of attacks against commercial vessels in the <a href="/facts/Red_Sea/0dKWSgEe">Red Sea</a>, including but not limited to those heading or related to Israel, with the stated purpose of preventing the bombing of Gaza and forcing Israel to let food and medicine into the strip. On 18 December 2023, U.S. Secretary of Defense <a href="/facts/Lloyd_Austin/d2LYmA1o">Lloyd Austin</a> announced the formation of an international maritime security force aimed at ending the blockade and countering threats by <a href="/facts/Houthi_movement/Cvhyfktz">Houthi forces</a> against international <a href="/facts/Maritime_transport/rB1EQAfm">maritime commerce</a> in the region.
The coalition currently has more than 20 members, of which ten are anonymously involved. <a href="/facts/Egypt/8Ttg0JwB">Egypt</a> and <a href="/facts/Saudi_Arabia/uyUpe1J2">Saudi Arabia</a>, both economically reliant on unhindered commercial shipping in the area, are absent from the listed participants. <a href="/facts/France/CxIeIKM3">France</a>, <a href="/facts/Italy/tUf0PDYF">Italy</a> and <a href="/facts/Spain/bIyrB8EY">Spain</a> have also declined to participate. The chairman of the <a href="/facts/Suez_Canal_Authority/BY0slWRI">Suez Canal Authority</a>, Usama Rabia, claimed that "navigation traffic in the Suez Canal was not affected by what is happening in the Red Sea". Nevertheless, on 10 January, the <a href="/facts/United_Nations_Security_Council/ytwaz2e4">United Nations Security Council</a> (UNSC) adopted a resolution demanding a cessation of Houthi attacks on merchant vessels.
The day of the UNSC resolution, the Houthis launched their largest-ever barrage of 18–24 attack drones and missiles at international ships and warships in the Red Sea. In response, on 12 January 2024, the coalition launched its <a href="/facts/2024_missile_strikes_in_Yemen/AbzIEq26">first airstrikes against Houthi targets</a> in Yemen, to which the Houthis have pledged to retaliate.
As of 2 January 2025, the Houthis recorded 931 American and British airstrikes against its sites in Yemen, resulting in 106 deaths and 314 injuries. Since 15 March 2025, attacks in Yemen have intensified during <a href="/facts/Operation_Rough_Rider/X4S1hvP8">Operation Rough Rider</a> and the United States have conducted over 1,000 airstrikes.
On 6 May 2025, President Donald Trump announced that the Houthis had "capitulated" and promised not to attack commercial vessels passing Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. He further declared the US strikes to be over, "effective immediately," as a result of a ceasefire between the U.S. and the Houthis, brokered by <a href="/facts/Oman/yNr7BPbm">Oman</a>.

Operation Prosperity Guardian open-in-new

Operation Prosperity Guardian