Israel hits back at Houthi drone attack

Operation Long Arm, the code name for Israel’s counter-terror strikes in Yemen, sends a message almost as forceful as the payload of its F-15s. Iran may have an extensive network of proxies through which to attack Israel but the IDF will go whatever distance necessary to defend itself. In this instance 1,200 miles to Al Hudaydah, a port city controlled by Ansar Allah, more commonly known as the Houthis, where a fuel depot was turned into a fireball on Saturday.

It marks the first time Israel has hit Yemeni territory and comes one day after the Houthis assaulted Tel Aviv with an Iranian-manufactured drone, killing one and injuring ten. The terror group has been bombarding Israel with drones for the past nine months but until yesterday all were intercepted without Israeli casualties. Defence minister Yoav Gallant explained the rationale behind Saturday’s strike: ‘The Houthis attacked us over 200 times. The first time that they harmed an Israeli citizen, we struck them. We will do this in any place where it may be required.’

Since the Houthis began their attacks on shipping through the Red Sea in November there has been a 40 per cent drop in the number of commercial vessels passing through Bab el Mandeb, an 18-mile wide strait stretching from Yemen to the Horn of Africa. Bab el Mandeb is a strategic conduit for the transportation of fuel from the Persian Gulf to Europe and the United States: in 2018, 6.2 million barrels of crude passed through the strait every day. The disruption to trade and energy security prompted the US to launch Operation Prosperity Guardian in December but Houthi strikes against commercial transits continue.

If Operation Long Arm disrupts the Houthis’ activities significantly, the world will owe a debt to Israel, not that it is likely to be acknowledged. It will also sound a warning to other proxies of Tehran: do Iran’s dirty work and you’ll take Iran’s punishment.