Houthis Looking to Gain Amid Conflict  10/02 06:10

   

   CAIRO (AP) -- In the days since Israel intensified its campaign against 
Hezbollah in Lebanon, including the strike that killed the militant group's 
leader Hassan Nasrallah, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been quick to 
show they are an important player in the complex conflicts convulsing the 
Middle East.

   In a brazen attack on Saturday, the Houthis fired a ballistic missile at 
Israel's main airport as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was arriving back 
from New York, where he had addressed the United Nations. On Monday, they 
threatened "escalating military operations" to target Israel after apparently 
shooting down a U.S. military drone flying over Yemen.

   And on Tuesday, an explosive-loaded drone crashed into one ship in the Red 
Sea as a missile exploded against another, the British military and private 
security officials said, the latest in the Houthis' assaults on commercial 
shipping in the key waterway.

   The salvo of Houthi attacks has again drawn attention to the Yemeni rebels 
and raised questions about their goals and strategies.

   Who are the Houthis and why are they in this fight?

   The rebels, armed by Iran, seized most of Yemen's north and its capital, 
Sanaa, a decade ago, pushing the country's internationally recognized 
government into exile.

   A Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's government entered the war in 2015 and 
the Houthis have since been fighting what has become a long-running but now 
largely stalemated civil war in Yemen.

   However, when the Israel-Hamas war erupted in the Gaza Strip a year ago, the 
Houthis began targeting shipping throughout the Red Sea corridor -- part of a 
campaign they say aims at pressuring Israel and the West over the war.

   Analysts and observers say a widening conflict could boost the Houthis 
militarily and expand their already outsized role across the region -- despite 
retaliatory strikes by Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom.

   Ahmed Nagi, a senior Yemen analyst at the Crisis Group, says that before the 
war in Gaza, the Houthis were seen as an often-forgotten and less-prominent 
faction in an axis that includes Iran, Syria's government forces, Lebanon's 
Hezbollah, the Palestinian Hamas and other groups in the region.

   That changed when the Houthis began hitting ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of 
Aden making their way to the Suez Canal, suddenly posing a much wider threat.

   "Over the past year, the Houthis have taken center stage," Nagi said.

   What is the Houthis' link to the Palestinians?

   After Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and 
taking some 250 hostages, Israel responded with a blistering offensive on the 
Gaza Strip, a coastal enclave run by the Palestinian militant group.

   Israel's retaliatory invasion of Gaza has killed more than 41,000 
Palestinians and wounded more than 95,000, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, 
which does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its count but 
says that over half of those killed are women and children.

   The toll the war has taken and the extent of Gaza's destruction have shocked 
the world.

   Meanwhile, the Houthis see the Yemenis' prevailing solidarity with 
Palestinians as a useful tool for recruiting new fighters and swelling their 
ranks, Nagi said

   In June, the Houthis unveiled a new, solid-fuel missile in their arsenal 
that resembles aspects of one earlier one displayed by Iran, which Tehran 
described as flying at hypersonic speed.

   The rebels fired their new "Palestine" missile -- complete with a warhead 
painted like a Palestinian keffiyeh checkered scarf -- at the southern port of 
Eilat in Israel, setting off air raid sirens but causing no damage or injuries.

   What comes next?

   The extent of the Houthis' actions was a surprise to some, mainly because of 
their limited resources and Yemen's own costly civil war.

   Nagi described their strategy as one of "gradual escalation" towards Israel. 
As their prominence grows, the Houthis -- who have for years relied on portable 
missile launchers and hit-and-run tactics -- will likely be eager to get their 
hands on more advanced weapons, he added.

   The Houthis initially targeted vessels claimed to be linked to Israel and 
later expanded their campaign to include all commercial shipping in the Red Sea 
and the Gulf of Aden. They used small boats, short-range missiles and drones to 
carry out those attacks.

   Their campaign prompted a response by an international coalition, led by the 
U.S. and U.K., which in February launched strikes on "sites associated with the 
Houthis' deeply buried weapons storage facilities, missile systems and 
launchers, air defense systems and radars," U.S. defense officials said.

   In July, an Iranian-made drone launched by the Houthis struck Tel Aviv, 
killing one person and wounding 10. Israel responded with a wave of airstrikes 
on Houthi-held areas of Yemen, including the port city of Hodeida.

   The Houthis have since warned they could expand their campaign beyond 
Mideast waters, to target ships using the longer route around the Cape of Good 
Hope in South Africa, or those in the Mediterranean Sea heading to Israel.

   According to Faozi al-Goidi, a fellow at the Middle East Council on Global 
Affairs, the rebels are not likely to be deterred anytime soon and could also 
target vessels further out in the Indian Ocean.

   They may also seek to "partner with other militias to build an alliance that 
would threaten security in the region," al-Goidi said.

   The New York-based Soufan Center, a think tank, said in a September report 
that the Houthis were increasing "operational autonomy" and diversifying their 
alliances away from Iran by cooperating with Russia, pointing to alleged plans 
for Russian weapons shipments to the Houthis that fell through.

   What kind of support do the Houthis have in Yemen?

   The Houthis remain in control of most of Yemen's north where they enjoy 
popular support despite a dire economic situation and a brutal crackdown on 
dissent that has included humanitarian workers.

   Their fight against Israel is likely to play into that. Thousands of Houthi 
supporters come out to Sanaa streets to rally every Friday, demanding justice 
for Palestinians and denouncing Israel and the U.S.

   "Yemenis of all political backgrounds and ideologies support Palestinians 
and have a deep connection with them," said Yemeni political analyst Abdel-Bari 
Taher. That will help grow support for the Houthis, despite the rebels' 
"oppressive policies against Yemenis."

   The Houthis may also seek to exploit their newfound stature following 
strikes against Israel in any potential negotiations with Saudi Arabia over a 
resolution to Yemen's civil war.

   The have raised "their ceiling for negotiations," said al-Goido. "No one 
will ignore them anymore."