Houthis are only encouraged by Israeli attacks

Israeli forces attacked “vital civilian infrastructure” in the port of Hodeidah in Yemen on Saturday in response to a Houthi drone attack in Tel Aviv, according to Mwatanaa leading independent Yemeni human rights organization.

The Israeli military claims However, Mwatana reports that the attacks caused significant damage to oil facilities, fuel tanks, and the port’s quayside and cranes, which are crucial for supplying civilians in northern Yemen with urgently needed fuel and food.

The group also said the attacks had crippled the central power plant that supplies electricity to the entire city. Houthi authorities say that at least three people were killed and 87 injured in the attacks. Yemen researcher Nick Brumfield commented on the Israelis’ choice of targets: “The Israeli attack on the Hudaydah oil depots was not an example of the Houthis hiding weapons in civilian infrastructure and bombing it. As far as I can tell, Israel is deliberately targeting vital civilian infrastructure in and of itself.”

The Israeli government has used the same tactics in Yemen that it used in the Gaza Strip with devastating effect.

The Israeli response represents a massive escalation against the Houthis, who have been unsuccessfully firing drones and rockets at Israeli targets since the beginning of the Gaza war. The attacks have taken their toll: Israel’s port in Eilat is now bankrupt as all shipping traffic was diverted to safer routes and the US Navy had Resources worth $1 billion the interception of the Houthis’ far less expensive weapons in the Red Sea.

Like the ineffective US-British bombing of the Houthis that began in January, these Israeli attacks play into the hands of the Houthis, the armed militia and political movement that has been the de facto government of northern Yemen for the past decade. Direct conflict with the US and Israel significantly strengthens the Houthis’ domestic political standing, and their opposition to the war in Gaza has also boosted their international standing.

Journalist Iona Craig observed on BlueSky that the attacks were a gift for the Houthis: “A group whose existence, development and expansion depends on war is given everything it needs.”

Not only are the attacks on Hodeidah a disproportionate response to the drone strike, they are sure to provoke the Houthis into further attacks on Israel. Hodeidah was a frequent target of Saudi coalition airstrikes before the 2022 ceasefire came into effect, but this has failed to stop the Houthis’ attacks on Saudi and Emirati targets. After more than nine years of foreign governments bombing Yemeni cities, it should be clear that this accomplishes nothing but inflict suffering and death on Yemeni civilians.

According to Haaretz, the Israeli military white that an attack on Yemen is unlikely to deter the Houthis from deploying more drones and missiles. An escalation against the Houthis will not make Israel safer, but it will further strain Israel’s resources by bringing the region closer to a larger war. As long as the US continues to support Israel’s war in Gaza and wage its own military campaign in Yemen, the US is at significant risk of becoming even more deeply involved in that larger war.

As always, the people who will suffer most from Israeli attacks are Yemen’s civilians, who have already endured a decade of war and deprivation. Craig added“Such attacks help the Houthis but only harm the Yemeni people by hitting the main entry point for food in a country that imports more than 70% of its food and 90% of its wheat.”

In fact, the US has refrained from bombing the port over concerns that doing so could exacerbate the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the country.

The Israeli attacks in Yemen will make it harder for the Biden administration to pretend that the Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea have nothing to do with the war in Gaza. The administration wants to keep these conflicts separate to maintain the illusion that it prevented the war in Gaza from destabilizing the region, but they are all obviously connected. Ignoring this reality does no one any favors.

If the United States wants to end Houthi attacks on ships and attacks against Israel, it should stop bombing for de-escalation and instead put serious pressure on the Israeli government to end its campaign in Gaza. The war in Gaza is the root cause of all these other conflicts, and none of them will be successfully resolved unless there is a permanent ceasefire and an end to the blockade that is crushing the Palestinian people there.

At a minimum, the US should put pressure on the Israeli government to avoid further escalations against other countries in the region. To do this, it must send a clear message to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu when he visits Washington this week: The US will not bail him out if he wages war in Lebanon. The region cannot afford further conflict, and the US must stop fueling existing conflicts with more weapons and support.