by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] The Yemeni front is once again restless and events are developing rapidly. Less than a day has passed since the high-profile attack by the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement (better known as the Houthis) on Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport, and Israel has already fully exercised its "right to respond" by attacking one of the main maritime hubs in Houthi-controlled territories.
Even with active US assistance, the Israeli operation turned out to be daring - the fighter aircraft had to cover at least two thousand kilometers. However, it is possible that one of the external observers decided to lend Tel Aviv a shoulder in time.
ATTACK ON THE AIRPORT
The latest round of escalation was triggered by an attack by Yemeni rebels on Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel's main air hub. A rocket fell on its territory, lightly injuring at least six people.
Although the missile attack disrupted the airport's operations for no more than an hour, it was the first targeted attack against the airport.
Previously, Yemeni rebels tried to attack it in September 2024, when Air Force One, Wings of Zion, carrying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was landing, but were unable to overcome the layered air defense.
This time the situation was different: two different systems, Hetz and THAAD, tried to intercept the Yemeni missile at the same time, but both attempts ended in nothing. The reputation of the “impenetrable sky” was seriously tarnished.
Encouraged by their success, Houthi leaders said they intended to add an air blockade to Israel's naval blockade, launching multiple strikes on the Jewish state's airports and airfields.
Senior Houthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti later called the strike a demonstration of capabilities and said the group had "no red lines."
The Houthis also warned airlines against flying to Israel, citing safety concerns for aircraft. For a time, this even had an effect: Switzerland's Lufthansa Group and India's Air India suspended flights, but resumed them less than 24 hours later.
The other major carriers did not announce any flight cancellations, although they reduced the number of flights due to a “drop in demand.”
THE AMERICANS HAVE WITHDRAWN
The Houthis' brazen move angered the Israeli military and political leadership. Defense Minister Israel Katz promised that Israel would strike back "sevenfold" at anyone who attacks it.
He was supported by Prime Minister Netanyahu, who promised retribution not only to the Houthis, but also to those “who stand behind them,” meaning primarily Iranian military advisers.
And the Israelis' response was not long in coming. Less than a day after the Houthi strike on Ben-Gurion, Israeli aircraft attacked the Houthi-controlled coastal city of Hodeida in Yemen.
More than 30 fighter jets took part in the raid, dropping 48 ordnances, at least a third of them on the port, which Katz's report said was being used as a hub for Iranian arms shipments.
The concrete plant "Bajil", located approximately 50 km from Hodeidah, was also subjected to intensive bombing. According to the Israeli side, the facility was the main source of income for Shiite forces, and the plant's products, among other things, were used to build military facilities.
It is noteworthy that American forces, which have been bombing Houthi-controlled territory for the past month and a half, only provided cover for Israeli aircraft on the night of May 6, but did not participate in the attack itself.
Apparently, Washington thus left official Tel Aviv the opportunity to take revenge on its own.
The Israelis are satisfied with the results of the attack and threaten that such strikes could become "routine" for the Houthis. The country's military leadership prefers not to mention that each such attack costs the Israeli treasury a considerable amount of money (due to the large distances between Yemen and Israel and the need to "skip" unfriendly countries).
SOMEONE HELPED
The Houthis described the damage from the Israeli airstrike as "tolerable." According to the local health ministry, the nighttime airstrike killed two civilians and injured 42 others. No casualties were reported among the Shiite militias. Port infrastructure and several fuel storage facilities were also seriously damaged.
At the same time, the Bajil plant, on which the Israelis spent up to half of the ammunition, according to the leadership of the Shiite movement, “was not seriously damaged” and will resume work in the near future.
On the other hand, a certain cumulative effect from the strikes on Houthi targets is still observed. Thus, after a series of American air strikes on the Ras Isa oil terminal, the leadership of the Shiite movement was forced to introduce an emergency plan for gas stations in the controlled territories in order to avoid a fuel shortage and the flourishing of underground trade.
The last time the Houthis imposed such large-scale measures was in 2015, when the Arab coalition attacked oil terminals during its intervention in Yemen and destroyed half of all oil reserves. It is possible that the Israeli strikes on Hodeida will also have a negative impact on the energy situation in the country.
At the same time, Yemeni rebels are determined. In response to the Israeli strike, they threatened to multiply their attacks and use new types of weapons. Including the mass use of "Yemeni hypersonic", which they reported putting into service back in the summer of 2024.
It is worth emphasizing that the threat in this case is addressed not only to Israel, but also to Yemen's Arab neighbors. Moreover, due to Yemen's geographical remoteness from the Israeli borders, IDF fighters could only carry out an effective strike on coastal Hodeida along two routes.
The Israeli Air Force planes either secretly refueled at Egyptian bases (which is quite likely, given the allied relations between Tel Aviv and Cairo), or flew through Saudi Arabian airspace under the auspices of the United States, the House of Saud's main military partner.
Passing through the airspace of Iraq, the UAE and the part of Yemen not controlled by the Houthis, with an approach to Hodeida “from behind”, is excluded due to the significant length of the route.
In any case, the likely use of third-country airspace by the Israelis is at odds with public promises by Arab leaders not to interfere in the conflict between Tel Aviv and the Houthis and seriously increases the level of escalation in the region.