Houthis pose a major threat.. American network: They have international agendas and the solution is to overthrow them

A report by the American ABC News network considered the fragile ceasefire in Gaza a "reminder of the ongoing threat" from the Houthi rebels. Even if the ceasefire holds, analysts say the Houthis remain a major threat.

The group has proven to be a “different kind of challenge” that will not go away easily, the report said. A UN panel report last year said support from Iran and its allies had transformed the Houthis from a local armed group with limited capabilities into a “powerful military organization.”

The group's main goal is to control all of Yemen, but they also have an international agenda, said Sarah Phillips, professor of global conflict and development at the University of Sydney.

"They are ideologically and geopolitically aligned with Iran," she told ABC.

Over the past year, the Houthis have targeted more than 100 commercial vessels with missiles and drones. Professor Phillips described how the Houthi attacks have evolved at the local level.

She said the Houthi attacks on Israel helped distract from their “very clear failure to provide Yemenis with the basic necessities for a safe and dignified life.”

"A threat that will not go away"

Israel, the United States, and coalition forces struggled to deter the Houthis at the height of their attacks, launching several rounds of coordinated airstrikes against ports, oil infrastructure, weapons sites, and the airport in Sanaa.

But the group has not backed down. Netanyahu said last month that the Houthis “will continue to pay a heavy price for their aggression.”

Amid doubts about the future of the ceasefire, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi warned this week that his group is “ready for immediate escalation against the Israeli enemy if it returns to escalation in the Gaza Strip.”

Danny Citrinovitch, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, a think tank in Tel Aviv, believes that even with a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, “the genie is out of the bottle,” as he put it.

He described the Houthis as “a challenge of a different kind.” He added, “There is no quick fix… Even if the war in Gaza ends, this is a threat that will not go away.” He said, “There is no other alternative, ultimately, but to overthrow them.”

The elements of the Iranian resistance axis have been weakened over the past year. Israel has eliminated senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in Gaza and Lebanon, and destroyed their military infrastructure.

The fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also dealt another severe blow to Iran's so-called "axis of resistance."

But experts say the situation with the Houthis is different. Yemen does not share a border with Israel, so it cannot easily launch a ground invasion as it did in Gaza and Lebanon.

They also lack intelligence on the Houthis, said Citrinovitch, the former head of the Iran branch of Israel’s Defense Intelligence Agency.

"That's something we didn't do because we were focused on the more pressing threats," he said.

What could happen next?

When US President Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term, he redesignated the Houthi movement as a “foreign terrorist organization.”

His administration said the United States would work with regional partners to degrade Houthi capabilities and deprive them of resources.

The Australian government listed the Houthis as a terrorist organization last May.

Mr. Citrinovic said the move by Trump was a step in the right direction.

But there are concerns that the designation could have implications for anyone seen as aiding the Houthis.

Oxfam said the move would exacerbate the suffering of Yemeni civilians and disrupt vital imports of food, medicine and fuel.

The terrorist designation and sanctions are unlikely to affect the Houthis, said Camelia Al-Eryani of the University of Melbourne's School of Social and Political Science.

She said that political negotiations are the best way to address the situation in Yemen, but that will only be possible if the ceasefire holds.

But she warns: “If that doesn’t happen, they will continue to do what they have been doing since November 2023.”