Can the Israeli occupation attack the Houthi military capabilities in Yemen?

US forces launched attacks on Sanaa and said they targeted a Houthi missile storage facility. This came at a time when Israeli officials said that the occupation army is preparing to launch another attack in Yemen, including the participation of other countries, to create a "full mobilization" that will increase the attack on the Houthis.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported an Israeli source as saying, "We conveyed a message to the Americans that we expect an increase in their attacks on the Houthis, and a message to the international coalition confirming that the Houthi attacks threaten the stability of the region." But the question is, can the Israeli occupation target the capabilities of the Houthis?

With the escalation of Houthi attacks on Israel in recent days, the occupying state is trying to present a new grievance that these attacks threaten the region in order to overlook its attacks on Yemeni facilities and lands.

Before the US forces announced that they had bombed sites in Sana'a, Israeli media outlets rushed to deny their responsibility and reported that "the attack on Sana'a was not Israeli." However, the context of events reveals that the US attacks are in support of the occupation and in response to its desire in light of its limited options for response.

Israelis were injured when a missile fired by the Houthis fell on the Jaffa area near Tel Aviv at dawn yesterday, leaving 30 people injured. An investigation by the Israeli Air Force revealed that several attempts to intercept the ballistic missile failed and it fell in a stadium in Tel Aviv.

Israel's options to respond to the Houthis

The options of the occupation army to respond to the Houthis seem limited as the attacks escalate. It is trying to market the existential threat to it and is seeking help from the United States. The Israel Hayom newspaper quoted a political source as saying that the conflict with the Houthis is escalating, saying, "Our goal is to fully mobilize Washington to increase the attack on the Houthis."

The Israeli response to the Houthis was a subject of discussion in the Israeli media, and Israeli analysts believe that the occupying state suffers from an intelligence problem with the Houthis, in addition to a target problem with them because they were not a target for it before the last war, according to what Yossi Yehoshua, a military affairs analyst in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, said.

In this regard, the leader of the Blue and White party and former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said, “The solution to the Houthi issue in Yemen is linked to Iran, and we must not only respond to the Houthis, but deal with the head,” referring to carrying out attacks on Iran in response to Houthi missiles.

The Israeli enemy army announced the implementation of aggressive attacks at dawn on Thursday, targeting power stations in the capital, Sanaa, and the ports of Hodeidah, which resulted in the martyrdom of 9 civilians. The occupation attacks were widely condemned, as the Presidential Leadership Council condemned the new Israeli aggression on Yemeni lands and considered it a violation of national sovereignty.

The Houthis announced that the ports of Hodeidah suffered losses estimated at more than$313 million , as a result of the raids carried out by the Israeli occupation in three separate attacks since last July, targeting the ports of Hodeidah, Salif, and Ras Issa.

The occupation army began launching attacks on Yemen in July 2024 by launching dozens of raids targeting the ports of Hodeidah, western Yemen, which resulted in widespread destruction of the port's infrastructure. No Israeli attacks targeting Houthi military capabilities were detected.

Targeting Yemeni facilities

Yemenis consider the Israeli attacks in Yemen to be targeting Yemeni facilities and a blatant aggression on Yemeni territory, in an attempt by the occupation forces to satisfy the Israeli interior, which has been harmed by the successive attacks that have threatened the settlements over the past months.

Yemeni diplomat Yassin Saeed Noman said, "Israel will not strike the Houthis and will strike again around them, targeting Yemeni facilities, without harming its need for the service provided to it by the Houthis and the remaining sectarian or loose militias, to continue its expansionist policy and liquidate all the pillars of the Palestinian cause."

"Naaman" points out that the occupation uses the Houthis as a justification to convince the world of the danger in light of the state of weakness in the region. He said: "This is how things are managed in this region that lacks the power to drive its internal dynamics to preserve its security, gains and stability. Always searching for a justification to convince the world that it is a region teeming with danger to the security of Israel and global security."

He added in a post on his Facebook page, "Today, all that remains of these 'justifications' are the remains of what was called the 'Axis of Resistance' (...) which will provide the remaining conditions for establishing this policy in the hybrid political and social structure in the region, which has not yet been able to decide on the matter of a modern civil citizenship state."

Iran as a driver of Houthi attacks

After all of Iran's allies in the region, most notably Hezbollah in Lebanon, were exposed and neutralized from supporting Gaza after a truce was declared, Israel is still threatening Iran with an open war that is still ongoing, and Tehran is trying to protect itself from the Israeli strike by carrying out attacks through its Houthi allies in Yemen.
The program "From the Other Side", which was broadcast on Saturday evening on the "Yemeni Youth" channel, revealed that "Iran has increased its presence in Yemen and sent more Iranian experts to prepare missiles that can be launched at Israeli settlements."

Journalist Abdullah Dubla said, "The Houthis are considered Iran's last manoeuvring arm to protect itself from a direct military strike by Israel, and through its presence in Yemen it wants to send a message that it is capable of harming international navigation and Israel."

He added: "The decision to carry out the attacks is Iranian and the Houthis are just a tool to launch the missiles," noting that "the Zionists do not care about responding by destroying the Yemeni economic facilities and they believe that they are putting pressure on the Houthis, but the only ones who are harmed are the Yemeni people."

Analysts do not expect the Israeli and American strikes to stop the Houthi attacks in the coming period. Military expert Major General Mohammed Al-Samadi said, "The mountainous nature of Yemen will make it difficult to completely eliminate the capabilities of the Houthis, and therefore these strikes may limit the Houthi attacks, but they will not completely prevent them."

Israeli analysts are aware of Iran’s role in the missiles launched by the Houthis in Yemen, in the context of reading the supposed Israeli response. The former head of the Military Intelligence Division in the occupation army and director of the Institute for National Security Studies, Tamir Hayman , considered that the attack carried out by the occupation army on Yemen is not enough to change the reality.

He said in a published article, "Two important things were missing from the way the campaign against the Houthis should be managed: attacking Iran as the guide and financier, and this is the task of "Israel" and the international coalition. The second thing is to carry out a broad and continuous campaign that results in the destruction of the Houthis' military capabilities."