US President Donald Trump will adopt a more aggressive strategy to tackle the Iran-backed Houthi rebels than his predecessor Joe Biden did, a source familiar with US military planning tells the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya news outlet.

While the Yemeni rebel group has halted its attacks on Israel and international shipping amid the ongoing ceasefire in Gaza, the source says that the Trump administration “will not sit back and wait for attacks” before targeting the group.

“Expect us to escalate and intensify in the coming weeks,” the source adds.

Upon his return to the White House last month, Trump re-labeled the Houthis as a “foreign terrorist organization,” after Biden dropped the designation in 2021 intending to address humanitarian concerns in Yemen.