The Cost of Waiting: Why the Houthis Are Getting More Dangerous and Where to Hit Them

In 2025, Ari Heistein wrote, “Defeating the Houthis Will Require More Than Killing Their Chief.” A year later, we asked him to reflect on the Houthis’ Red Sea gains, the limits of killing leaders, and why another ceasefire would only buy them time to rearm.Image: Mehr News Agency via Wikimedia CommonsSince you wrote this piece, the Houthis have launched their most successful offensive in years, seizing much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast. You described the group as a quasi-state with entrenched control over ports, the economy, and security services. How much of this recent ba