Last Friday Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X that “we will hunt down and eliminate Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi in Yemen. We will defend ourselves by our own strength against any enemy.”
“If the Houthis continue to fire missiles at Israel, they will suffer painful blows. We will also strike the heads of terror, just as we did with Deif and the Sinwars in Gaza, Nasrallah in Beirut, and Haniyeh in Tehran,” he added, referring to Israel’s assassination of Hamas leaders Mohamed Deif and Yahya and Al- Sinwar, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
These fiery statements came in the wake of Israeli airstrikes carried out by F-15 fighter jets on the ports of Salif and Hodeida in Yemen. The attacks reportedly utilised precision-guided SPICE-2000 bombs, according to footage released by the Israeli military and were in retaliation for Houthi ballistic missile attacks on Israel.
According to Times of Israel correspondent Emanuel Fabian, “fifteen fighter jets were involved in the operation, dropping some 35 munitions on the Hodeida and Salif Ports. Israeli Air Force refuelers and spy planes also participated in the operation.”
“The Israeli military estimates it will take the Houthis about a month to restore the ports in western Yemen targeted by the Israeli Air Force, an attack that comes in response to the Iran-backed group’s missile and drone attacks on Israel.”
On the day after these statements, Israeli air defences intercepted Houthi drones attacking Israel from the east, without any significant Israeli deterrence against the Iranian-backed militia despite the strategic damage. On the same day, civilian air traffic resumed at Sanaa Airport in Yemen, which Israel had attacked 11 days earlier, with a flight arriving from Amman.
It seems that the Israelis have not fully understood the Houthis. Unlike Hizbullah or Hamas, they are a militia adapted to prolonged combat under aerial bombardment. They are well-equipped with various missile and drone capabilities, and they rely on multiple logistical routes for smuggling weapons while exploiting Yemen’s rugged terrain for concealment.
Their tribal background and psychological momentum have successfully shaped their leaders, who leverage the Palestinian cause and Israeli aggression to justify their campaign in the Red Sea.
It was against the background of the renewed Israeli strikes on Yemen, that Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) detected that elements of the US Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (CSG) had transited the Suez Canal northbound on Friday and predicted that the rest of the CSG, which deployed in September, would soon follow to its homeport.
This happened one week after US President Donald Trump’s announcement that US will stop bombing the Houthis in Yemen, saying that the Iran-aligned group had agreed to stop interrupting important shipping lanes in the Middle East.
However, Reuters reported that the head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, Mahdi Al-Mashat, had said that the group would continue to support Gaza and that such attacks would continue.
“To all Zionists, from now on stay in shelters or leave for your countries immediately as your failed government will not be able to protect you after today,” the Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV channel cited him as saying.
On the same day, Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthis, called on his supporters to take to the streets in Yemen to celebrate what he described as a victory over American aggression. Houthi attacks on Israel then intensified compared to previous strikes.
The US may not have completely abandoned its Israeli ally over Yemen, and the latest air campaign against the Houthis was certainly the most intense. It was specifically aimed at assassinating Houthi leaders, resulting in the killing of many and the destruction of several weapon caches.
However, the Houthis continued their attacks on the ill-fated US aircraft carrier, which has lost three F-18 fighter jets in separate incidents, the latest due to a slip during a sharp manoeuvre. This final defensive action against missile strikes could indicate an impending large-scale and aggressive Houthi offensive.
In addition to exposing US Navy jets to danger from Houthi air defences, even fifth-generation fighter jets like the F-35, the Houthis have employed domestically produced systems such as the Thaqib and Saqr-358 missiles.
The US has acknowledged that these systems have come close to downing American aircraft. They are difficult to detect because they rely on passive sensors, making early identification and neutralisation with conventional methods challenging. This gives them an advantage in executing effective aerial ambushes.
If it had not been for the high-level training of American air crews, the losses could have increased significantly, similar to what happened with the world’s most advanced drones, the MQ-9 Reapers.
All these factors, along with the significantly rising costs of a war of attrition, may have led to the US decision to avoid slipping further into the Houthi mire and seeking a swift exit from the prolonged conflict.
The Houthis, an adversary indifferent to whom they fight, understand well that victory against them is only possible through intensive ground operations, an option that remains highly challenging given the current weakness of the Yemeni army.
There is little to prevent the Houthis from continuing their attacks on Israel, and most likely the Israeli strikes against them will prove even less effective than the American operations. The only way to halt the attacks remains either stopping military operations in Gaza or forcing Iran to cut off its supplies to the Houthis, an unlikely scenario at present.
Houthi morale has risen, and they have gained the ability to plan and intensify missile attacks on Israel. While these attacks may not yet be very effective due to the reinforced four-layer American and Israeli air defences, one of which includes US Navy destroyers, these warships are gradually withdrawing from the Red Sea.
This withdrawal could increase the likelihood of Houthi hypersonic ballistic missiles penetrating Israeli defences, even if only marginally.
The ball is now in Israel’s court. Will it embark on a new adventure of exchanging attacks with the Houthis, who possess the patience and the armaments to sustain them? Or will it attempt to assassinate Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi in the hope that this will halt the Houthis?
Alternatively, will Israel now listen to reason and recognise the clear reality that military operations cannot in themselves succeed unless a diplomatic solution is found to stop the Middle East crisis?
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