Iran-Backed Houthis Threaten All-Out War on Israel by Land, Air and Sea

A powerful, Iran-aligned militia in Yemen already conducting an unprecedented missile and drone campaign against Israel has declared its readiness to open new land and sea fronts amid the ongoing war 1,000 miles away in Gaza.

Abdul-Malek al-Houthi, head of Yemen's Ansar Allah movement also known as the Houthis, issued a statement Tuesday calling on the nations located between Yemen and Israel to open a corridor to allow the group's considerable military force fight Israeli troops directly, and warning that Israeli ships in the Red Sea between the two countries would also be targeted.

Hours later, Ansar Allah Deputy Information Secretary Nasreddin Amer told Newsweek that geography was the only thing keeping a massive reserve of fighters away from entering a conflict that has consumed the region.

"On the ground, we have no borders with occupied Palestine," Amer said. "Otherwise, we would not hesitate to attack it on the ground and eliminate the Israeli enemy."

"We have fighters numbering hundreds of thousands who are brave, tough, trained and experienced in fighting," he added. "They have a very strong belief and their dream in life is to fight the Zionists and the Americans."

Amer also weighed in on the ongoing missile and drone attacks against Israel as well as threats of targeting Israeli ships in the Red Sea.

"As for the missile and drone operations, they will continue and develop, and we are working to develop our attacks in order to harm the Zionists," Amer said. "As for the naval operations, they target Zionist ships, and we, God willing, will work to strike them if they do not stop the aggression against Gaza."

He said the group was "coordinating with the resistance in Gaza and throughout our region" as an increasing number of militias declared attacks against Israel and U.S. troops stationed in Iraq and Syria.

The comments came as the IDF announced that the "Arrow" Aerial Defense System had intercepted a new missile launched toward Israeli territory in the area of the Red Sea. The IDF stated that "the target did not cross into Israeli territory."

Reached for comment by Newsweek, an IDF spokesperson declined to comment on "specific reports," but asserted that "the IDF is ready to protect Israeli citizens on various fronts."

Shortly after Amer's comments and the IDF reports, Ansar Allah military spokesperson Colonel Yahya Sare'e announced that the group, which considers itself to be Yemen's legitimate armed forces, had "launched a batch of ballistic missiles at various targets of the Israeli enemy in the occupied Palestinian territories, including sensitive targets in the Umm al-Rashrash area, 'Eilat,' only 24 hours after another military operation carried out by our armed forces with drones on the same targets."

He also confirmed that Ansar Allah had "begun taking all practical measures to implement the directives issued regarding the appropriate dealing with any Israeli ship in the Red Sea."

"The armed forces will not hesitate to target any Israeli ship in the Red Sea or any place we can reach, starting from the moment this statement is announced," Sare'e added. "And God is witness to what we say."

While not internationally recognized as Yemen's rulers, the Zaidi Shiite Muslim Ansar Allah movement has been in control of the capital Sanaa since early 2015 and gained control of up to a third of the country and up to 80 percent of its population in a deadly civil war against government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition.

The group has expressed close relations with Iran and members of the regional "Axis of Resistance" opposed to the U.S. and Israel but has denied claims that it received direct military assistance from Tehran. Iranian officials have also denied the allegations as well as any direct control of any groups that have taken up arms against Israel and U.S. troops from across the region.

While the war in Yemen remains active, fighting has calmed since a truce was established in April of last year and Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to resume diplomatic ties and engage in greater cooperation in a China-brokered agreement reached in March of this year. Missile and drone attacks claimed by Ansar Allah against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have similarly subsided, but the war in Gaza has seen the group demonstrate its long-range capabilities in a new theater.

Just two days after Hamas' October 7 surprise attack against Israel and a subsequent IDF campaign against Gaza, Amer had told Newsweek that the group was weighing its options in joining the conflict directly. On October 19, a U.S. warship off the coast of Yemen intercepted what the Pentagon said were 2-3 missiles launched from Yemen, the first of several salvos before the group acknowledged its role in the conflict on October 31.

Since then, numerous missile and drone attacks have been announced, mostly targeting the southern Israeli Red Sea port city of Eilat. While Ansar Allah has claimed successes, the IDF has repeatedly said it thwarted such attacks with anti-missile systems and fighter jets.

The group has also taken actions against U.S. military assets in the region, downing an MQ-9 Reaper drone near Yemen last week.

Ansar Allah is one of several "Axis of Resistance" factions that have joined the war between Israel and Hamas.

U.S. troops have in Iraq and Syria found themselves under daily rocket and drone attack from a group calling itself the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq," which U.S. Central Command described to Newsweek earlier this month as "a broader term used to describe the operations of all Iran-backed militias in Iraq." The group has also claimed direct attacks against Israel, including both Eilat and near Dead Sea that borders Israel, the West Bank and Jordan.

Meanwhile, the powerful Lebanese Hezbollah movement, a longstanding ally of Iran, has engaged in an escalating series of clashes with Israeli troops across the Israel-Lebanon border. In his first speech since the war began, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah issued warnings both to Israel and the U.S., specifically Navy ships operating in the Eastern Mediterranean, where, as in the Red Sea, President Joe Biden has bolstered U.S. military presence amid the war in Gaza.

And even with the IDF now fighting within Gaza, Hamas and other Palestinian factions have continued to claim rocket strikes against Israeli cities and military positions.

While Hamas and both the Lebanese Hezbollah and Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah have long been designated terrorist organizations by the U.S., the designation of Ansar Allah by then-President Donald Trump's administration just a week before Biden took office in early 2021 was quickly reversed by the incoming president, citing a need to ensure the flow of international aid to address Yemen's dire humanitarian crisis was not impeded.

On Monday, the State Department announced that U.S. special envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking was traveling this week to the region to meet with officials from Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Oman, the UAE and other international partners "to discuss the necessary steps to secure a durable ceasefire and launch an inclusive, political process led by the UN, while ensuring continued efforts to ease the economic crisis and suffering of Yemenis."

"The Special Envoy will emphasize this is a moment of opportunity for Yemenis to end the Yemen conflict and move toward peace," the State Department added. "Wider regional conflict risks undermining peace in Yemen."

This article has been updated to include comment from an IDF spokesperson.