How the Houthis gained prominence in the Middle East conflict

The bloc formed by Iran and its allied groups in the Middle East has suffered numerous setbacks over the past year due to Israel’s growing offensive on several fronts. Hamas, which launched the assault from Gaza on October 7, is very weakened and has lost its main leaders; Lebanon’s Hezbollah has also shown that it is vulnerable and has lost its top leader; Iraqi militias have still not fully entered the turbulent scene. And Tehran has measured its response in clashes with Israel to avoid an even greater escalation.

Amid these blows, a group that until a year ago occupied a peripheral position in this alliance has gained new prominence: the Houthis. The Yemeni movement quickly entered the fray against Israel following the offensive on Gaza, and it has shown great skill in internationalizing the conflict with attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea, while avoiding serious damage to its own ranks. In addition, with its bombings of Israel, it has become stronger and more popular and is gaining a more central position in the regional alliance.

Its most disruptive actions have been those aimed at hindering traffic in the Red Sea, one of the world’s main commercial arteries. Between November of last year and mid-October, the group carried out some 240 attacks against ships in the area, according to the conflict data collection organisation ACLED. And in doing so it has managed to reduce maritime movement through this route by almost 75%, according to data from the Portwatch platform.

The deployment of naval forces in the region, especially by the United States, and the American and British bombings against Houthi targets in Yemen have limited the scope of their attacks, which are intercepted around half of the time, according to ACLED data. But they have not reduced the pace of the attacks by a group that has used its experience to fine-tune its operations and used their impact to project its capacity for movement.

Meanwhile, the Houthi militia has also attacked Israel; since October last year it has claimed 36 attacks, according to ACLED (13 of them in the first two months and another 12 since Israel intensified its offensive against Lebanon). In July, the group even hit Tel Aviv in a drone attack that killed a civilian. The Israeli retaliation included two attacks against critical infrastructure in Yemen, in which around 20 people died. But this also failed to stop them.

Inside Yemen, where they control around 30% of the territory (equivalent to around 75% of the population, including the capital, Sanaa), the war in Gaza has offered them some respite. Before October 2023, the Houthis were grappling with weariness from a long civil war and growing internal opposition. But the gains from the conflict with Israel have allowed them to cement their authority, intensify repression, including against U.N. workers, and rekindle their standoff with the internationally recognized rival government and its great regional backer, Saudi Arabia.

“The war in Gaza occurred just when there was a lot of criticism of the Houthi administration in Yemen. People were suffering from a devastating economic situation and living conditions, high unemployment — all of which was putting enormous pressure on the Houthis,” says Middle East security analyst Shukriya Bradost. “Now the focus on the Houthis is [instead] tied to the war against Israel and the United States,” she notes.

At the same time, the Houthis have taken advantage of the opportunity to expand their international presence, notably by assuming a greater role within the axis of groups supported by Iran. Moreover, their leader, Abdelmalik al-Houthi, has emerged as a new symbol after leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah were eliminated by Israel.

“This shift reflects a growing transnational mindset among Houthi supporters, who now see the movement as a force with an influence that goes far beyond Yemen,” said Mohammed Albasha, a Middle East security expert. Their military strength and presence in the region has grown significantly, he said. They have gained access to new, advanced technology and weaponry from Iran, some of which has been displayed during attacks on Israel, although the group has claimed to have — and occasionally used — more sophisticated weapons than it has displayed so far, such as hypersonic missiles. The Houthis have also recruited thousands of fighters over the past year.

The standoff with Israel and the setbacks suffered by other Tehran-backed groups raise questions about how far the Yemeni rebels can go. They are separated from Israel by more than 1,240 miles, they control a vast and rugged territory, and they have two decades of almost uninterrupted military experience: first against the regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh, overthrown after the 2011 revolution during the Arab Spring, and then during the civil war that has bled the country dry since 2014, during which they have faced off against regional powers such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

“Years of asymmetric warfare with the central government and the Saudi-led coalition have turned them into a resilient force, skilled in guerrilla tactics. Their military infrastructure is decentralized, with fuel depots spread across northern Yemen, their brigades operating as mobile units, and missile and drone launching bases spread across different provinces, making them agile and difficult to attack,” Albasha said.

Taking advantage of their location next to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, two of Washington’s biggest regional allies and increasingly close to Israel, the Houthis have warned that they do not rule out hitting them directly if they assist the U.S. and Israel in any way. Yemeni rebels have already attacked Saudi Arabia and the UAE several times in the past, including oil facilities and airports.

Over the past year, the Houthis’ actions have also helped reinforce their image as a determined, uninhibited and somewhat reckless group compared to Iran, Hezbollah and Iraqi militias, which have tended to act more cautiously. Although they are an equally strategic actor and guided primarily by local causes, the Houthis have withstood blows from Israel and the United States, and have responded immediately, without regard to the consequences of an escalation.

“Their goal remains to consolidate power in their territory rather than control [even] all of Yemen. But the Houthis seem willing to engage in further confrontation, as they perceive regional opportunities and existential threats,” Albasha notes, suggesting that “their willingness to escalate makes them a highly unpredictable force.”

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