Why Can The Houthis Cause So Much Damage?
- Meir Javedanfar
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
The recent missile attacks by the Houthis in Yemen against Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv created much panic and concern in Israel. This attack on Israel is the latest in a series of Houthi attacks that began after Hamas’s October 7th assault.
Houthis’ free weapons, courtesy of Iran
Yemen is the poorest country in the Middle East. Many years of civil war and a 10-year war against Saudi Arabia have created unprecedented poverty. It also faces major water shortage problems. More than half of its 39 million population needs foreign humanitarian assistance to survive.
The Houthis do not have the resources to pay for weapons, especially missile parts, which they import from Iran and assemble in Yemen. Iran has also provided the Houthis with drones. Iran’s willingness to provide the Houthis with free weapons continuously is a major source of strength for the Yemeni rebel group. It allows them to continue with their attacks, without any concern regarding the economic cost of purchasing weapons.
Yemen’s suitable topography for missile launchers
Much of central Yemen is covered with mountains and plateaus, providing an advantageous geographical feature. Houthis have numerous sites to conceal their weapons, especially missiles and missile launchers, which have made it difficult for the US and Israel to locate and destroy the Houthis’ missile arsenal.
Yemen also has a 1,906 km coastline that straddles both the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, a territory that includes 200 islands. The largest is Socotra, about 354 km to the south of mainland Yemen.
A plentiful coastline provides the Houthis with ample space to import weapons through the sea from Iran, without being detected. Yemen also shares a 294 km border with Oman, with the Yemeni side being covered by mountains, which enables the Houthis to smuggle weapons from Iran via Oman.
Read more: Why Does the Iranian Regime Hate Israel?
Yemen’s strategic regional location
Yemen has control over the Bab el Mandeb strait, a strategic choke point which connects the Gulf of Aden, part of the Arabia Sea, to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Fifteen percent of the world’s maritime trade flows past this important waterway. The ability to attack ships passing through this strait has provided the Houthis with incredible leverage over the global economy.
Challenges in intelligence gathering
Yemen is a closed country. Very few foreigners, especially from the West, visit. This is mainly because of poverty, continuing civil wars that started in the 1990s, and a war against Saudi Arabia, which lasted more than a decade. It has no borders with Israel and is at least 2,000 kilometers away. This has made Human Intelligence (HUMINT) penetration into the country very difficult for Western intelligence agencies, especially Israel.
Only 54% of Yemenis own a cellphone, which is 25% less than the global average. The lack of cellphone usage has limited the ability to collect surveillance, such as Electronic Intelligence (ELINT), by foreign intelligence agencies.
Could Israel end Houthi attacks?
To deter the Houthis from carrying out future attacks, Israel would need to conduct continuous military strikes against Houthi targets. Israel alone does not have the number of aircraft and missiles needed to operate such a large mission. Yemen is too big, 51 times larger than Lebanon and 3 times larger than Syria. The US has supported Israel against Houthi threats through continuous attacks against the terror group. On May 7, 2025, US President Donald Trump declared he reached a ceasefire agreement with the Houthis, leaving the Jewish state on its own. Amid continuous attacks against it, the best Israel can hope for is to shoot down Houthi missiles and UAVs, in addition to launching infrequent aerial attacks against Houthi targets in Yemen. However, there is currently no likely end to Houthi attacks against Israel.
Dr. Meir Javedanfar is an Iranian-Israeli lecturer, author, and commentator. He teaches various Iran-related courses at Reichman University in Herzliya, Israel.
His X handle @Meirja.