Retaliatory strikes expose Houthi defiance and Israel’s limited options

Yemeni rebels have vowed to continue attacks no matter the consequences

Houthi leader Abdul-Malik Al Houthi is shown on a large screen in Sanaa. AFP

The latest exchanges between Israel and the Houthi rebels reflect how entrenched and emboldened the Yemeni group has become, undeterred by Israeli attempts to weaken its Iranian patron.

The Israeli attack involved approximately 20 aircraft that launched a wave of strikes on Houthi-controlled ports, a power station and even a ship that the group captured in 2023. Israel dropped more than 50 munitions in the attack, according to its military. The operation came after the Iran-backed Houthis attacked the Liberia-flagged Magic Seas ship hours earlier, and then fired missiles and drones at targets in Israel.

“The attack on the Magic Seas is not a shift in the position of the Houthis. Before the ceasefire announced by the US President in May, and even after it, the position remained that targeting Israel and ships dealing with it will continue,” a Yemeni source in Sanaa told The National.

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Two months ago, President Donald Trump announced that the US would stop attacking the Houthis after the rebels agreed to halt attacks on US forces and commercial vessels in the Red Sea. The Magic Seas strike is the first Houthi attack since that truce, and it comes after the Houthis vowed to resume attacks in the region following the US strikes on Iran.

“Every Israeli aggression against the Palestinian and Yemeni people will be met with direct strikes on Israel by the Houthis. This is the decision now, no matter the consequences,” added the Yemeni source.

Protesters in Sanaa hold up weapons during a rally to show solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Reuters

The Houthis are part of the so-called Axis of Resistance, an Iran-led network that includes Hamas in Palestine, Hezbollah in Lebanon and armed groups in Iraq, whose aim is to deter Israel from conducting military action and countering its influence in the region. Many of the groups have fought against Iran's enemies in their respective countries.

Heavy price

The groups launched attacks on Israel as part of a support campaign for Hamas and the Palestinian people after the Gaza war broke out on October 7, 2023. But months of fighting with Israel, which holds clear military dominance, have eroded the operational capacity of the axis considerably.

Hezbollah was once seen as Iran’s frontline deterrent against Israel, but a string of Israeli strikes last year wiped out much of its leadership and crippled its arsenal. Now, the Houthis have emerged as Tehran’s preferred strategic proxy.

After the recent Houthi attacks, the Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that “the Houthis will continue to pay a heavy price for their actions” as his military announced it “struck and destroyed terror infrastructure belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime”.

“Among the targets were the ports of Hodeida, Ras Isa, and As Salif,” it said. It was the Israeli army's first attack on Yemen in around a month. The Israeli strikes, which hit targets that have already been attacked several times, highlights the limits on what Israel alone can achieve against its distant enemy, which despite the weakening of Iran and the regional militant groups it backs, keeps up a steady pace of missile attacks against Israel.

Dr Yoel Guzansky, a senior researcher at the Israeli think tank INSS, told The National that he thought there is “no delusion in Israel that the Houthis are about to stop targeting Israel”.

“I think the aim of these attacks is to punish and deter not necessarily the Houthis, but the surrounding neighbourhood enemies and to show that even if the attacks don’t stop, there's no attack on Israel that it will not carry on retaliation. Israel will not be silent.”

Houthi supporters pass paintings depicting late military and political figures of Iran-backed groups in the Middle East. EPA

Mr Katz directly warned Iran in his statement after the strikes, saying that “what’s true for Iran is true for Yemen”. “Anyone who raises a hand against Israel will have it cut off,” he said.

Mr Guzansky said that the infrastructure targets attacked by Israel have been attacked “over and over … meaning that the Houthis rebuild their stuff very fast”.

He added that the most “meaningful attack on the Houthis was in June when Israel targeted the chief of staff of the Houthis [Muhammad Al Ghamari].”

Mr Al Ghamari's fate is unknown, but Mr Guzansky said the attack showed that “Israel is gaining intelligence on the Houthis, something we didn’t have before”.