JERUSALEM

Israel is struggling to craft a policy that could halt drone and missile attacks by the Houthi group from Yemen. 

In the past few weeks, the Houthis have focused their attacks on central Israel, especially the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, where millions of Israelis live. 

Nine Israelis were hurt early Wednesday while running for shelter after a rocket fire by the Houthis. The army said the projectile was intercepted before entering Israeli airspace. 

The Yemeni group says that its attacks are in retaliation for Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 45,400 people, mostly women and children, since a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. 

The Israeli army has so far carried out three waves of aerial strikes on vital facilities in Houthi-held areas in Yemen. 

Israeli media said that a fourth aerial attack against the Houthis is being planned. 

“Houthis were not deterred despite the economic damage caused by Israeli attacks,” said Ron Ben-Yishai, a military analyst for the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth. 

“Only a decisive strike on the Houthi leadership and their weapons, similar to Israel’s strategy against Hezbollah, can change their position,” he opined.  

Non-stop sirens 

Yossi Yehoshua, a military analyst for Yedioth Ahronoth, said Israeli airstrikes embolden Houthis to continue their strikes against Israel. 

“The Houthis continue to establish themselves as a major nuisance after the cease-fire in Lebanon and the destruction of most of Hamas’ capabilities in Gaza,” he added. 

“In fact, the combination of missiles and drones on this front (Yemen) has created a reality where the alarms are activated day and night,” he continued. 

The Israeli strikes “have boosted the Houthis’ appetite to continue firing missiles.”  

Yehoushua said Israel is still struggling to figure out how to counter the Houthi attacks. 

"Israel is still debating whether to attack Iran as Mossad chief David Barnea suggests, or Yemen as the military believes,” he added. 

According to the analyst, the Mossad chief believes that attacking Iran would force Tehran to pile pressure on the Houthis to halt their attacks. 

"But a senior Israeli military official believes that the Iranians' influence on the Houthis is not the same as their influence on Hezbollah and that they are a kind of independent and disturbed child,” he said. 

“An attack (on Iran) will not achieve the goal of deterring the Houthis, and will renew a direct front against Iran," Yehoushua added. 

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday threatened to target the Houthi leadership in Sanaa and all across Yemen.  

Lack of information  

Yehoushua said the lack of intelligence information on the Houthi capabilities hinders Israeli efforts to craft a policy to counter attacks from Yemen. 

"The second problem is the distance, which makes attacks complex and expensive," he added. 

Former military commander Gadi Shamni told the local 103 FM radio on Wednesday that the Houthis carry out their attacks at night to disturb the lives of Israelis. 

“The Houthis understand that night has a huge impact on the population and having to wake up is stressful,” he added. 

“They (Houthis) have been fighting for a very long time, they know how to fight and they are used to suffering, so if you bomb their civilian infrastructure, it will not stop it, and that is why the entire system, the international system, must be harnessed in this effort,” Shamni said. 

He opined that the Israeli government had made a mistake by failing to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities in the past months. 

“We are in a situation where it is difficult for us to stand up and attack Iran,” he said. “There is a new US administration, and in my opinion (Donald) Trump will not go in this direction, but rather in the opposite direction, towards sanctions and pressure.”

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar