Israel and its coalition partners are weighing the prospect of a ground operation against the Iranian-backed Houthi organization in Yemen, as missile and drone attacks targeting Israeli and international maritime assets continue to escalate. The debate, taking place among military and political leaders within Israel, the United States, and regional stakeholders, reflects mounting concerns over the Houthis’ ability to disrupt global trade and threaten Israeli sovereignty as part of Iran’s broader campaign against Israel via proxy forces.
The escalation of Houthi action has followed the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre—the bloodiest antisemitic attack since the Holocaust—which triggered a wider war involving Iranian-backed groups across the Middle East. From their stronghold in northwestern Yemen, the Houthis have intensified missile and drone assaults on ships transiting the Red Sea, as well as direct attacks targeting Israeli cities. Their campaign, coordinated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has jeopardized commercial shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait—a crucial maritime chokepoint through which over 10% of global trade passes.
Israel’s defense establishment, under Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, has prioritized the defense of Israeli citizens and international shipping lanes. Air and naval strikes—conducted jointly with U.S. and British forces—have targeted Houthi launch facilities and supply depots but have not fully neutralized the terror group’s capabilities. The question now confronting policymakers is whether air and maritime interdictions suffice, or whether a coordinated ground operation is required to degrade the Houthis’ military infrastructure and deter further Iranian aggression.
United States and UK naval assets have expanded patrols and engaged in targeted strikes under Operation Prosperity Guardian, aimed at safeguarding freedom of navigation and diminishing the Houthis’ operational capabilities. Yet, regional allies—most notably Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt—remain cautious, recalling the protracted and costly interventions against the Houthis over the past decade and closely monitoring the risk of sparking wider escalation with Iran and its network of proxies.
Any ground intervention in Yemen would pose immense logistical and tactical challenges. The Houthis are deeply entrenched in Yemen’s mountainous terrain, possessing an asymmetric warfare advantage honed over years of civil conflict. Coalition strategists recognize that a ground offensive would necessitate high-grade intelligence, precise strategic objectives, and robust coordination with local anti-Houthi factions to avoid entanglement and protracted urban warfare. Previous Saudi-led operations have demonstrated the limited impact of conventional campaigns in Yemen against a well-armed and ideologically motivated adversary.
The Iranian regime, through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has played a central role in arming, funding, and directing the Houthis as part of Iran’s ‘axis of resistance’ strategy. The advanced weapons provided to the Houthis—ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones—have extended Tehran’s reach and created new fronts against Israel and global commerce. These actions form a unified regional campaign, with Iranian proxies in Gaza (Hamas), Lebanon (Hezbollah), Syria, and Iraq joining in simultaneous pressure against Israel and U.S. interests.
The Houthis’ attacks on shipping traffic are widely condemned as violations of international law, with economic consequences reverberating from the Middle East to Europe and Asia. Shipping insurance premiums have soared, rerouting of vessels has disrupted global supply chains, and fears remain that a failure to curb Houthi aggression could embolden further Iranian-backed actions against other international interests.
Given the multidimensional risk, the Israeli government continues to coordinate with the United States and NATO partners, stressing that self-defense—including preemptive action where necessary—is justified under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. The moral, legal, and operational distinction is maintained between Israel—a sovereign democracy defending its citizens and the free flow of international commerce—and the Houthi organization, which operates as a U.S.-, UK-, and Israel-designated terror group in service of Iran’s aim to destabilize the region.
As diplomatic backchannels remain open and military options are refined, senior officials acknowledge the complexity of any ground action in Yemen given the country’s humanitarian crisis and fragmented political landscape. The focus, they emphasize, would be on limited, high-impact operations targeting Houthi military infrastructure, not occupation or regime change.
The debate within Israel’s security cabinet and among Western allies centers on balancing the need for decisive deterrence with the imperative of avoiding a broader conflagration in the already volatile Middle East. Israeli officials reiterate that responsibility for escalation lies squarely with Iran and its proxy networks, which seek to impose war on Israel and the international order by leveraging terror and asymmetrical warfare.
In summary, the question of a ground operation against the Houthis remains open, driven by evolving threat assessments, regional alliance dynamics, and the continuing imperative to end the Iranian-backed terror campaign against Israel and the free world. The outcome will shape not just the security environment of the Middle East, but also the conduct and principles underpinning international law and maritime security for years to come.
