FACT CHECK: Video Claims Houthis Have Hit 171 Vessels

A video shared on X claims that the Houthis have sunk or targeted 171 vessels.

The Houthis successfully targeted 171 ships linked to Israel since October 2023. Love the Yemeni khanjar triangle 🔻 pic.twitter.com/yD8aWTdQDs

— PVT (@hoaxvstruths) July 19, 2024

Verdict: Misleading

There is no evidence Houthis have not sunk 171 vessels or successfully hit 171 ships.

Fact Check:

The Houthis threatened to retaliate after Israel bombed an oil depot in Yemen, according to the Jerusalem Post. The Israeli strike was in response to a Houthi drone hitting Tel Aviv, the outlet reported.

Social media users have been sharing claims that the Houthis have sank or hit 171 ships. One user wrote, “The Houthis successfully targeted 171 ships linked to Israel since October 2023. Love the Yemeni khanjar triangle.”

This claim lacks evidence. The Associated Press reported on July 16 that the Houthis have targeted 70 vessels with anti-ship missiles, drones and other weaponry, killing four sailors. The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies said that the Houthis have launched “dozens” of attacks on shipping in the Red Sea in a July 17 news release.

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy has tracked 94 Houthi attacks on merchant shipping and 100 actions between warships and the Houthis. The actions between warships also include U.S. and other nations strikes against the Houthis.

“U.S. forces destroyed two Houthi USVs in the Red Sea. According to a statement by  U.S. CENTCOM, one Houthi radar was also destroyed in a Houthi-controlled location in Yemen. ‘It was determined the USVs and radar site presented an imminent threat to U.S. and coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region,” the statement said,’” reads one example.

The video also claims that the Houthis successfully targeted the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower twice. This claim is false, as documented by Check Your Fact at the time. (RELATED: Was The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Struck by Houthi Rebels?)

A defense official told Check Your Fact in June that the Houthis have attacked or threatened U.S. Navy and commercial vessels 173 times since Nov. 19, 2023. Check Your Fact reached out to the Pentagon for comment.