The Dangerous Final Chapter in the Houthis' Game

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The analytical article refutes the political and military behavior of the Houthi militias, clarifying the blatant contradiction between their raised slogans and their secret understandings with Washington to protect navigation in exchange for escalation against Saudi Arabia to reach Bab al-Mandab and Al-Mokha. It monitors the group's strategy of playing on the factor of time and employing proxy wars and authenticity to seize power and restore the Imamate system under the guise of Zaydi and partnership with Iran, confirming that the militias' push towards the 'militarization' of the Red Sea will face regional and international alliances that will end their influence and hasten the return of the south or undermine their project in Yemen.

The slogan raised by the Houthis on all occasions is: 'Death to America, death to Israel, and victory for Islam.' However, the first thing they did after militarily reaching the port of Al-Mokha and Bab al-Mandab on the Red Sea and bombing 'Aramco' facilities and others in Saudi Arabia with missiles, crossing all red lines by sending a drone that was shot down near Mecca, was the opposite: they met with officials at the American embassy in Oman and informed them that they would not close Bab al-Mandab to American and Israeli ships while continuing the ban on Saudi ships. This is not outside their usual political and military behavior; they have played all possible cards, despite their contradictions, to serve their path to power.

They fought six wars with President Ali Abdullah Saleh, entered into the Yemeni settlement after the revolution against him, then turned against the settlement by allying with him after he left power, and then killed him to monopolize power after seizing what was in his army's arsenal. They are linked to Iran and have fought proxy wars on its behalf and wars authentically for themselves, and they began to celebrate the anniversary of the 'Khomeini cry' while they are Zaydi Shiites, not Twelver Shiites, repeating phrases from the sermons of the founder of 'Ansar Allah,' Hussein al-Houthi, with the blessing of his father, Badr al-Din al-Houthi, and the sermons of their current leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, Hussein's brother. They learned the lesson from Ho Chi Minh that says: 'Time is the condition that must be won to defeat the enemy,' and they acted in the recent attack according to General Giap's opinion: 'Control the timing and extent of escalation when you are prepared and in need of escalation.'

Since 2021 and the ceasefire agreement with the joint forces, the fronts in Yemen have calmed down, so the 'Tsunami of Al-Aqsa' operation came to give them a role in the Palestinian issue by directing missiles at Israel, regardless of their ability to reach it. Israel struck them, and they considered what was destroyed by the bombing a political gain, and America struck them, so they chose to cease fire with it in 2025, then the conditions for the attack on the coast matured after years of understanding regarding the situation of the port of Hodeidah.

The specialist in political science and international issues at George Washington University, Mark Lynch, says, "No one wins a proxy war, but proxy wars have opened the way for powerful non-state actors." The Houthis have played both sides: on one hand, they participated like "Hezbollah" in Lebanon and the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq in Iran's proxy wars, receiving weapons, money, expertise, and support from military "advisors," and they appeared as a strong non-state force that has traveled a long way from the group's stronghold in Saada to Al-Mokha and Bab al-Mandab after establishing themselves in the capital, Sana'a. On the other hand, they suggested that they are close to achieving their goal through the other side of the war in earnest.

Quoted from "Independent Arabic"