In retaliation for Israel's war against their Palestinian allies Hamas, Yemen's Houthi rebels have stepped up their attacks on the country. After claiming several explosive drone and ballistic missile strikes, the Houthis claimed, on Sunday December 3, to have attacked two ships in the Red Sea.
This latest incident comes against a backdrop of heightened tensions in the region following the spectacular capture at sea on November 19 of a vessel owned by an Israeli businessman.
A proclaimed member of the "Axis of Resistance," which designates armed groups who are enemies of Israel and also allied with Iran, the Yemeni Houthis reiterated their threat in the Red Sea and warned that "ships belonging to or dealing with the Israeli enemy will become legitimate targets." The rebels made it clear that they will continue their military operations "until the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank ceases."
But why is this rebel group, which controls a large part of Yemen, stepping up its attacks on Israel? Here is a three-point explanation.
Taking their name from the Al-Houthi family clan, the Houthis are a politico-military movement that developed in the 1990s in the northern Yemeni governorate of Saada, a province bordering Saudi Arabia. Unlike the two-thirds of the Yemeni population who are Sunni Muslims, Houthi claim to be Zaidists, a minority branch of Shiite Islam that is mainly present in the nation.
The Houthis, who are nostalgic for the Zaidi imamate, a long-standing politico-religious regime in North Yemen that came to an end after the republican revolution of 1962, share the idea of a revival of Zaidi cultural identity. This identity, in their view, has been progressively erased by the central power, particularly after the unification of Yemen in 1990. The Houthis have structured themselves around feelings of marginalization and discrimination, and a loss of political, social, economic and religious influence. They perceive the spread of rigorous Sunni currents, such as Wahhabism from Saudi Arabia, as a threat.
These grievances, combined with complex clan rivalries, have led Houthi supporters to increasingly oppose the central government head-on. Through armed conflicts against the regime in the early 2000s, the popular uprising of 2011 and the civil war that began in 2014, the rebels have gradually established themselves as the new masters of Yemen.
Today, they control around 30% of the territory, including a vast swath in the north and west of the country, the Red Sea port of Hodeida and the capital, Sanaa. In total, the Houthis exercise authority over almost two-thirds of the population.
In the early 2000s, the movement led by Hussein Al-Houthi, a dissident former parliamentarian, gradually emerged as the only force capable of challenging the regime's policies. In particular, Houthis criticize the alliance forged between the United States and Yemen in the fight against terrorism. They strongly criticize American imperialism and Israel, perceived as major threats to the country's sovereignty. The slogans brandished by supporters bear witness to this: "God is great. Death to America, death to Israel, curse for the Jews, victory for Islam."
The incumbent leader, the old autocrat Ali Abdallah Saleh who had been in power since 1978, was worried about this movement, which was finding support within the Yemeni population. Beginning in 2004, the face-off between government forces and Zaidi insurgents led to a long, armed conflict, known as the "Saada War," during which Hussein Al-Houthi was killed. His death helped radicalize the movement.
From 2011, in the wake of the Arab Spring, popular protests led to the departure of President Saleh. Houthi militias took advantage of this uprising to reinforce their territorial control in the north of the country. The former vice-president, Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, was given the task of leading the transition to a new constitution that would take account of all the forces in the country. However, the government proved incapable of finding a convincing solution to the political and community divisions, and failed to meet the aspirations of the population.
The Houthi rebels capitalized on this failure and, with secret support from Iran and former president Saleh, seized the capital Sanaa in September 2014, then the presidential palace a few months later.
The coup precipitated the internationalization of the civil war. Saudi Arabia, where the deposed president had taken refuge, led a regional military coalition in 2015 and pledged to restore the internationally recognized government.
But the conflict got bogged down and the jihadist threat grew. Despite the outpouring of resources, Saudi Arabia was unable to change the balance of power with the Houthis, and its coalition failed. Now seeking to extricate itself from this quagmire, Riyadh opened the way in April 2023 to peace negotiations with the rebels. The conflict has taken a heavy toll: according to the UN, the war has claimed 400,000 victims, mainly civilians. The country is currently experiencing "the most serious humanitarian crisis in the world," according to UNICEF.
The armed group, which acquired its military arsenal with the help of Iran, has always made the fight against Israel an ideological hallmark. The recent attacks come as little surprise to specialists in the Yemeni conflict. "It was to be expected that a group whose anti-Israel and anti-American ideological training is not just a slogan would take part in this front, with or without Iran's go-ahead," explained Farea Al-Muslimi, a researcher at the Chatham House think tank (London) to Le Monde.
Above all, the Houthi rebels are conducting a show of force aimed at increasing their legitimacy among their own population, rather than having any real influence on the conflict between Israel and Hamas. "Their participation in the fight against Israel is a tremendous opportunity to unify the Yemeni population, which is overwhelmingly pro-Palestinian but suffers under their rule from hunger, corruption and mafia-style governance," added the specialist on Yemen.
As well as winning the support of a people beset by a serious humanitarian crisis, the rebels are also hoping to extend their influence in the region and gain leverage against Saudi Arabia. This is a "calculated strategy" aimed at "putting pressure on the Americans" to "speed up the conclusion of an agreement with the Saudis," Maged Al-Madhaji, co-founder of the think tank Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies, told AFP.
However, this strategy could backfire on the Houthis. Following the capture of the ship in the Red Sea, the United States announced that it might re-designate the rebel group as a "terrorist organization." If it comes to be, this decision could stand in the way of its quest for legitimacy.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.