Damascus
Amid growing military escalation between Israel and Yemen’s Ansar Allah (Houthis) movement, an Israeli security source revealed yesterday, Monday, that Israel is preparing to launch a strong strike against Yemen in the near future, according to Al Arabiya Al Hadath news channel.
This announcement followed the Houthis’ declaration on Sunday that they had targeted Israel’s Ramon Airport with a drone. The group claimed responsibility for attacks on Israeli targets in the Negev, Eilat, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Tel Aviv. The Israeli army confirmed that a drone had crashed in southern Israel, injuring one person lightly, according to emergency services.
A preliminary Israeli investigation revealed that the drone which targeted Ramon Airport was initially detected as a non-hostile aircraft. The Israeli military also announced the interception of three drones launched from Yemen, shooting down two before they entered Israeli airspace.
These developments followed statements by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz last Thursday, vowing a strong response to the missile attacks carried out by the Iran-backed group. The Houthis, for their part, pledged to escalate their attacks on Israel in retaliation for Israeli airstrikes on Sanaa last week, which killed the Houthi prime minister and 11 other officials.
Since the war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, the Houthis have continued launching ballistic missiles and drones toward Israel, in addition to attacks on Red Sea commercial vessels they claim are linked to Israel.
The attack on Ramon Airport marks a new stage in the conflict, with expectations that Israel’s response will be more severe than in previous operations. This comes as Israel shifts its strategy to targeting the group’s actual military leadership, reflecting a broader transformation in its regional priorities.
The future of the confrontation between Israel and Yemen’s Ansar Allah remains unclear, particularly after Israeli airstrikes on a cabinet meeting in Sanaa killed the prime minister and several ministers. It was the first time since Israel began its military operations in Yemen in July 2024 that such senior Houthi figures were targeted.
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Curbing Iranian Expansion
Amid this military escalation, Dr. Michel Chammai, a political analyst and writer from Beirut, argues that “Tel Aviv is accelerating regional change through its recent strike on Sanaa.” He notes that this approach “signals that the same policy may soon be applied in Lebanon,” pointing to the “intense Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon as clear evidence.”
Chammai warns that “the danger has not left Hezbollah’s structure,” stressing that “the greater threat will fall on the Lebanese state if it fails to implement the decisions of the August 5 and 7 sessions concerning limiting arms to state authority.” He considers the strike on Sanaa “a new indication of the Israeli method to be pursued in the coming days.”
When asked whether Israel might form an international coalition to counter Houthi attacks, Chammai responds: “I do not believe Israel seeks such a coalition. It already enjoys international cover and military and logistical support, especially from the United States. Why would it enter alliances that, in my opinion, would only delay its destructive strategic plans to reshape regional dynamics?”
He adds for +963 that “politically, I don’t believe Israel is focused on diplomacy at this stage. Its priority is to militarily dismantle the status quo that existed across the region before October 7.” He predicts that “after the military campaign, we will see a rapid acceleration in the pace of the Abraham Accords, through which Israel will forge its new political alliances in the region.”
Chammai considers Israel’s escalation “the final warning to the Iranian regime as a whole,” stressing that Israel “is preparing to topple Iran’s allied regimes militarily.” He asserts that Israel “will carry this trajectory into Iran itself, as the Houthis’ continued Red Sea attacks and Hezbollah’s defiance in Lebanon illustrate Tehran’s refusal to yield.”
He warns that “given the ongoing regional situation, we may witness a strike against the Iranian regime itself, intended to topple it and impose a new political equilibrium.”
However, Chammai doubts Israel’s threats will deter Iran’s proxies, including the Houthis, since “Iran appears committed to total escalation in the region amid the failure of negotiations, hoping to impose some of its terms through pressure.” He concludes: “But I do not believe Iran will succeed, as the global order is not prepared to compromise. The battlefield will speak. In my view, the military path will escalate further, paving the way for either submission or the removal of this abnormal political reality in the world.”
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A Changing Defense Doctrine and Personal Agendas
For his part, Khaled Khalil, an Israeli affairs expert from Damascus, tells “+963 that “the Israeli army’s defense doctrine changed drastically after October 7, 2023, to restore Tel Aviv’s deterrence. Israel has since exaggerated its responses with excessive military force, coupled with the rise of the far-right’s dominance in government.”
He adds that “Netanyahu’s government, already responsible for deep internal crises, is determined to strike the Houthis hard, as they have proven their ability to fire into Tel Aviv’s heart. Meanwhile, the Israeli army claims to have destroyed 80 percent of Hezbollah’s capabilities in Lebanon and weakened Iran in a twelve-day war, leaving the Houthis the only remaining force able to support Hamas in Gaza.”
Khalil argues that “Israel is applying a tactic known as ‘cutting off the snake’s head’ when conflicts drag on.” He explains that “Israel, initially targeting infrastructure to limit Iran and its proxies, has since mid-2024 escalated into assassinating leaders, from Hezbollah’s leadership to commanders inside Iran itself.”
He points out that “the targeting of Houthi leaders is not just about their role as Gaza’s only support front. It reflects Israel’s changing defense strategy and the failure of the international coalition formed by the US, UK, and others under the banner ‘Operation Prosperity Guardian’ to protect Red Sea trade routes, which remain under constant Houthi threat.”
He adds that “expanding the war from Gaza into Iran and Lebanon aligns with Netanyahu’s personal ambitions. Leading the most extreme government in Israel’s history, he seeks to evade his corruption, treason, and abuse of power trials, knowing that the war’s end could spell the end of his political career. Recently, Netanyahu has attempted to portray himself as Israel’s monarch, adopting quasi-spiritual roles for his Zionist base, invoking ideological projects and the rhetoric of Greater Israel to preserve his political legacy.”
Khalil continues: “The excessive use of force in Yemen is seen as justified by the Israeli public given threats to marine traffic and the Houthis’ ability to strike Tel Aviv. Israel also continues incursions into Syrian territory despite the lack of any real threat from Syria. Israel has fundamentally reshaped the region’s security landscape since October 7, and its strikes on the Houthis are part of its broader campaign to dismantle Iran’s regional project.”
He concludes: “The rivalry between Iran and Israel has led Tel Aviv to dismantle Iran’s regional ventures, reflected in efforts to eliminate all forms of ideologically driven militancy outside state control in Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Yemen, and Jordan. The region is moving toward security and economic stability between Israel and neighboring states, and ending the militia dynamic requires Tel Aviv to remove the far-right from power, which has fallen into disarray in the face of this trajectory.”
