‘We’re going fully in’: Israel set for war with Houthis

Israel says it will ‘put the Houthis back in their box’ with the help of an international coalition as the US military strikes the Yemen rebel group’s sites in Sana’a.

A smoke cloud billows after an air strike on Yemen's Houthi-held capital Sanaa on December 31. Picture; AFP.

Israel is preparing for war on the Houthis, after weeks of attacks from the Yemen rebel group.

Over recent days Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz have threatened Iran’s last proxy with the assassination of the group’s leaders. And over the last 10 days, former Mossad agents have publicly described how they murdered Hamas leader Esmail Haniyeh in Tehran, and killed and wounded thousands of Hezbollah fighters with exploding pagers. Their detailed comments on the operations were an explicit threat to Houthi commander Abdul-Malik al-Houthi and other leaders: We will come to get you too.

Now Jerusalem is reportedly planning an all out war, with an Israeli security source telling The London Times: “We’re going fully in.”

“Until a few weeks ago, we retaliated once, twice,” the source told The Times. “But it’s fair to say that we no longer see it as just tit-for-tat. Now we’re going fully in, and that means there is a plan with escalation steps. It connects to a bigger strategy.

“There is definitive intent on the Israeli side and by its international partners to fully take them [the Houthis] on, there is full-fledged set of actions and capabilities that are being built now and will be executed at the right time.”

CENTCOM Forces Strike Multiple Houthi Targets in Yemen

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted multiple precision strikes against Iran-backed Houthi targets in Sana’a and coastal locations within Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen, Dec. 30 and 31.

On Dec. 30 and 31,… pic.twitter.com/XUKtsZM1U7

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) December 31, 2024

Israeli intelligence services and the IDF are discussing whether to wait until Donald Trump is inaugurated before launching an assault on Yemen, or directly striking Iran which has armed the Houthis and recently supplied them with hypersonic missiles with which they have targeted Israel.

An Israeli official told the Times of Israel success would depend on the IDF working with an international coalition to defeat the group.

“The Houthis should not be under-rated,” an official told the newspaper. “They are more technologically advanced than perceived by many. They are ideologically toxic, and they have displayed the will to fight against the Saudis and others.”

The official added: “The Houthis pose a threat to international security and global trade. Therefore, an international coalition should confront and eliminate this threat.”

With Iran’s other proxies decimated, there was an opportunity now for Israel to work with an international coalition “to put the Houthis in their box,” they said.

On Tuesday (local time) the US military attacked Houthi targets in Yemen’s capital that the rebels used to attack American warships and commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

The attacks began Monday and were carried out by US Navy ships and aircraft that also struck Houthi-controlled coastal regions of Yemen, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.

It also said US Navy and Air Force aircraft had destroyed “seven cruise missiles and one-way attack UAVs over the Red Sea,” using an acronym for unmanned aerial drones.

“There were no injuries or damage to US personnel or equipment in either incident,” it said.

One witness in Yemen’s Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa reported several strikes in different locations.

Another reported raids on Sanaa on the Defence Ministry and having heard a powerful explosion.

Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam called the strikes “an American aggression” and “a blatant violation of the sovereignty of an independent state and a blatant support for Israel.”

The Houthis are the only Iranian-backed proxy left standing after the Israel Defence Forces decimated Hamas and Hezbollah.

On Tuesday (local time) the rebels said they had fired two missiles at Israel, one at Ben Gurion airport, hours after the Israeli military said it had intercepted a projectile launched from the country.

The Houthis control much of Yemen and have been firing missiles and drones at Israel, and at ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

With AFP