In the wake of US and British strikes on dozens of Houthi positions, the movement was defiant. The Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said that the operation he had threatened for a long time would not go unanswered. He added that this would not deter militants from continuing to attack cargo ships and warships now accompanying them through the region – a measure the Houthis say they are taking to end the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Analysts say this challenge is more than just a threat. The Houthis, who have been the target of a Saudi-led bombing campaign for years, have proven their ability to absorb such strikes. Friday's attack gave them an opportunity to raise their profile among the constellation of Iranian-backed groups in the Middle East and among people, in the Arab world and beyond, who are desperate for any sign of resistance to Israel's military campaign in Gaza.
US and British leaders described the attacks as successful. But analysts say they reveal the US failure to contain the regional fallout from the Israeli attack on Gaza – an operation supported by the White House – and the ongoing civil conflict in Yemen.
Baraa Shaiban, an associate fellow at the London-based center, said that the West, especially the United States, is looking for “quick solutions to long and ongoing conflicts” in the Middle East. Royal United Services Institute.
“There was a lack of strategic thinking,” he said, including regarding Yemen, and a failure to invest the kind of attention that could have produced an alternative to Houthi dominance.
Laurent Bonnefoy, a researcher who studies Yemen at the Sciences Po Institute in Paris, said that the raids This was what the Houthis were “looking for”.
He said: “They are getting what they want, which is to emerge as the boldest regional player when it comes to confronting the international coalition, which largely supports Israel and does not care about the people in Gaza.” “This generates a form of support for them, at the international level as well as internally.”
The Houthis overthrew the Sanaa-based Yemeni government to seize power in 2014. A regional military coalition, led by Saudi Arabia and backed by the United States to defeat the Houthis, has struggled over the past decade to achieve this goal.
The furious Saudi-led bombing campaign led to the deaths of thousands of civilians. Over time, the Houthis grew stronger – with support from Iran. The bloody conflict has left areas of Yemen in ruins and sparked one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises.
Today, the Houthis rule large areas of Yemen, including the capital and the strategic Red Sea port of Hodeidah, a powerful position when negotiating a post-war settlement.
Israeli authorities say that Hamas and militants allied with it left Gaza on October 7, killing about 1,200 Israelis and taking 240 others hostage. Israel responded with a campaign it said was aimed at eliminating Hamas. In three months, the war has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians, Gaza health officials say, and has turned much of the Strip into rubble, killing more than 23,000 Palestinians, Gaza health officials say. Severe shortages of water, food, fuel and shelter.
If the United States intervened on Israel's behalf, the Houthis warned after October 7 that they would retaliate. That month, militants launched their bombs First shot: Cruise missiles targeting Israel.
They were shot down by a US Navy destroyer. Since early November, the group has launched more than twenty attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
The United States and Britain received support Friday air strikes by Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, and only one Arab country: Bahrain.
Several governments expressed doubts or condemned it Exceeds. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, A close partner of the United States in the region is trying to conclude a peace agreement with the Houthis, Beware of Risks of escalation. Saudi Foreign Ministry She said she was “closely monitoring” developments “with great concern.”
Badr al-Busaidi, foreign minister of neighboring Oman, said the strikes were “against our advice and… It will only add fuel to a very dangerous situation“.
“I urge all parties to exercise restraint and focus on a ceasefire in Gaza now,” he previously wrote on Twitter. Humanitarian and relief organizations also expressed their concern.
“Yemenis across the country have awakened to fear of returning to conflict,” Jared Rowell, the International Rescue Committee’s country director for Yemen, said in a statement on Friday. He added that the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea “have already affected the delivery of commercial and humanitarian aid to the country.” He added, “Today's American/British strikes confirm the danger of a broader regional and international confrontation.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the aim of the strikes was to “disable and weaken the capabilities of the Houthis.” But analysts say it will be difficult to achieve this goal.
Ibrahim Jalal, an analyst at the Middle East Institute, described the Houthis as… It is a nimble militant group, gaining strength thanks to years of guerrilla warfare in Yemen and enduring years of Saudi-led air strikes.
they have “There are only a few large-scale permanent military sites,” he added. “Instead they use mobile launch pads for missiles and drones as well as networks of tunnels and caves that make targeting them extremely complex.”
Friday strikes, Jalal He said it was “largely surgical, tactical and symbolic.” Doubt they work as well deterrent.
“The Houthis do not have much to lose,” he said., And a lot to gain. The war in Gaza has enabled the group to position itself as a defender of the Palestinian cause in the region, winning popular support at home and abroad and deflecting attention from internal discontent.
He added that the Houthis' challenge to the United States now is partly due to Western “mismanagement” of the conflict in Yemen.
“The United States was fine with the oppressive regime supported by Iran because they thought this would be a Yemeni problem, a regional problem,” he said. “This miscalculation takes us back to square one.”
As violence in Yemen's civil conflict has declined, opposition to the Houthis has emerged over complaints including the group's inability to pay public sector salaries, according to Maysaa Shuja al-Din, a senior researcher at the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies. But the Houthis' attacks on trade in the Red Sea have struck a chord in a country where the Palestinians enjoy global support.
She said: “Now everyone says: We support the Houthis in this issue.”
She added that the attacks on ships have strengthened the organization's recruitment efforts, and over the past few weeks – a period that witnessed a rare incident. With the exchange of fire between Houthi fighters and US Navy helicopters, the number of recruits increased, especially in the northern tribal areas of Yemen.
She added that from the Houthis' beginnings as a youth movement in northern Yemen decades ago, the group envisioned itself as more than just a local actor — “they had ambitions to become a regional power.”
She said that they are now directly confronting the United States and its allies, Their wish has been fulfilled. They did It has proven its ability to strike targets far beyond its borders.
“The Houthis will take revenge,” Shuja al-Din said. “And they can.”
