Houthis takes ‘extreme’ measures to protect the leader in the resumption of Israel’s attacks

A source within Ansar Allah, widely known as the Houthi movement, has said Newsweek that the Yemeni group was taking high measures to safeguard its leader while threatening to resume attacks against ships linked to Israel.

After issuing an ultimatum last Friday, Ansar Allah leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, declared on Wednesday that his group would restart the campaign of missile and drones attacks that have attacked more than 100 vessels considered linked to Israel in response to the blockade of the country of humanitarian assistance to the Gaza fleet.

The campaign stopped in January after reaching an agreement between Israel and Palestine Hamas Movement that asks for temporary fire, the exchange of prisoners and an increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza. Last week, however, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu He announced that the assistance would be retained from Gaza to press Hamas to extend the current terms of Alto El Fuego instead of proceeding to the second phase aimed at negotiating a lasting peace.

After Houthi’s speech, he said a source of Ansar Allah Newsweek that the group would now seek a policy of “a siege for a siege until the siege over Gaza and the Zionist enemy is raised returned to the agreement that previously agreed and then resigned.”

The source of Ansar Allah also said that Israel’s history to attack the upper leadership of enemy features, including Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah movement would not deter the group, even if Houthi’s security is considered a priority.

“As for leaders and murder policy, we are essentially proceeding with extreme caution, but at the same time, we are highly prepared to make sacrifices and we cannot go back,” said Ansar Allah source.

“Despite this,” added the source, “the enemy understands that we do not operate with a policy of reserving the right to respond, and that any escalation of the enemy will encounter a climb without hesitation or reserve.”

Newsweek It has communicated with the Israel Defense Forces (FDI) to comment.

Why does this matter

Ansar Allah has established a reputation as one of the most formidable factions of the “resistance axis” aligned in Iran that intervened in the war in Gaza in support of Hamas. The group began firing missiles and drones against Israel only weeks after the October 2023 attack led by Hamas against Israel that caused the conflict and shortly after began attacking ships accused of making trade with Israel in the red and Arab seas.

The unprecedented campaign led to serious interruptions in global trade and high international shipping costs. And although Israel has managed to kill much of the main leadership of Hamas and Hezbollah, Ansar Allah has emerged with relatively little damage, since he challenged numerous rounds of strikes from Israel and the United States to continue his long -range offensive until the cessation of January.

President Donald TrumpThe administration has also established a pressure on the increase in Ansar Allah, Restoring the group’s place in the list of foreign terrorist organizations designated by the United States last week. His predecessor, then president Joe BidenHe had eliminated the group shortly after coming in 2021, citing the difficulties for humanitarian organizations operating in Yemen.

Meanwhile, the Netanyahu government has previously threatened the leadership of Ansar Allah, with Israeli Minister Eli Cohen warning in December that if Houthi “continues with his actions, he will end exactly as (head of the Hamas Slain Yahya political office) Sinwar and (Hezbollah Secretary of Hezbollah-Hahasan-Hahasan) Nasan) Nasan) Nasan).

What to know

Ansar Allah began as a reactivation movement for the considerable Muslim sect Zaidi Chiite de Yemen in the 1990s and began to grow in size and influence through the change of the century. The group was headed by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi’s older brother, Hussein al-Houthi, until his death at the hands of Yemeni security forces in 2004.

Under Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, Ansar Allah participated in the demonstrations linked to the Regional Protest Movement of the Arab Spring that finally overthrew the president Yemeni Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2012, but the group continued to take advantage of the territory. In early 2015, Ansar Allah confiscated the Sanaa capital, forcing Yemen to exile and causing an intervention by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia.

A high fire negotiated by the United Nations In April 2022, he left the country divided effectively. Ansar Allah has control of a third of the country’s territory, including the capital, and up to 80 percent of its population, while the presidential leadership council, backed internationally, backed by Saudi, and the Soudi Transition Council, backed internationally, and the transition leader separated by the United States backed by the Port City of the South.

Iran has always denied providing weapons to Ansar Allah, despite the intelligence statements of the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

What people say

The leader of Ansar Allah, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, during his speech on Wednesday: “Any Israeli ship that crosses the declared area of ​​operations will be attacked. This is a practical step and a necessary position in response to the aggressive escalation taken by the Israeli enemy against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

“What the Israeli enemy did by preventing the entry of help to the Palestinian people into the Gaza Strip, and also when closing the crosses and avoiding the entry of any food supply within the framework of the trade movement in any way means a complete closure and a complete siege of all the main criminals of the main criminals. Descriptions of important crimes.

Reading the United States Department of the Meeting of the Secretary of State for Marco Rubio on Monday with the Saudi heir prince Mohammed Bin Salman: “The leaders discussed Yemen and threats to the navigation of huti terrorists who threaten global trade, American interests and citizens and Saudi infrastructure.”

What happens later

If he acted, Ansar Allah’s threat could lead to additional problems not only for Israel, but also Trump, since he already states with the economic impact of his tariff wars. A senior Ansar Allah official had said Newsweek Shortly after Trump’s electoral victory in November that the incoming American leader could relieve the burden of US taxpayers by stopping “US aggression against Yemen” and putting an end to “his support for aggression in Gaza.”

On the other hand, Trump has also shown the will to eliminate enemy leaders, especially in the murder of the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard of Iran, the general commander of the General Force Qassem Soleimani in 2020, and Netanyahu has been emboldened by the blows that are dedicated to Iran and the axis of the resistance factions in another place in the region. Both could seek to climb in response to new Ansar Allah operations.