The audacious attack follows months of Yemen’s increasing military capabilities and its willingness to engage directly with the occupation state, aligning with its broader strategy to support the Palestinians amidst the ongoing genocide in Gaza, in spite of renewed hostilities by the US and Britain.
Brigadier General Yahya Saree, the spokesperson for the Ansarallah-allied Yemeni military, emphasised that this strike was a direct response to the atrocities in Gaza, portraying Yemen’s actions as a necessary measure of solidarity with the Palestinian people. “We will focus on targeting the internal front of the Zionist enemy and reaching deep. We confirm that we have a bank with targets in occupied Palestine, including sensitive military and security targets,” he stated — a clear intention to maintain and escalate their military activities if provoked.
“Our operations will only cease when the aggression stops and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted,” he said.
In May, Saree spoke of Sanaa stepping up its attacks against the occupation state to the fourth phase, including the targeting of ships heading towards Israel, expanding the scope to include the Mediterranean Sea. However, the drone attack in Tel Aviv now marks a “new phase” in their operations, representing a growing threat to the Zionist entity at a critical time with intensified conflict with Hezbollah in the north. This was confirmed by Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, who declared in a televised address that the movement would continue “the fifth stage of escalation in support of Gaza.”
Yemen has been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, and especially since the current war broke out following the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation in October last year. This support is not merely rhetorical but has extended to active military engagement, reflecting Yemen’s prominent position within the broader Axis of Resistance.
The country’s military capabilities have expanded significantly, with operations extending into the Red Sea, the Mediterranean and even the Indian Ocean. The Yemeni armed forces have acquired and developed advanced hardware, which have been used in attacks not only against Israel but also targeting US and British assets in the region. Despite almost a decade of war and facing its own humanitarian crisis in addition to being known as one of the poorest countries in the Middle East, Yemen demonstrates a sophisticated level of military preparedness and a strategic approach to exert its hard power in the region.
In response to the Tel Aviv drone strike, Israel launched air strikes on the port city of Hudaydah, targeting what it described as military installations. However, these strikes also resulted in civilian casualties and significant infrastructure damage, including to oil storage facilities and a power plant. The Yemeni military has already retaliated following the Israeli assault, but has vowed that the actual “response to the Israeli aggression against our country is inevitably coming and will be huge and great.”
It is clear that the occupation army aimed to send a strong message to Sanaa, but this has only further galvanised Yemeni resolve, definitively opening another front in the regional war centred on Gaza. This “Unity of Arenas” strategy has been years in the making for the Axis of Resistance, and a scenario the Israeli military has tried to prepare for.
The attack on Tel Aviv holds symbolic as well as strategic significance within the anti-Zionist movements across the Arab and Muslim worlds. For decades, various leaders and groups have aspired to strike at the heart of Israel as a demonstration of resistance. Yemen’s latest action represents the first successful strike by an Arab state against Tel Aviv in the 21st century and the implications will be remarkable, as the Jerusalem Post notes: “This represents a significant threat to Israel and will give the Iranian proxies in the region a reason to feel they have accomplished a new success in their war efforts. Tel Aviv is a primary and symbolic target. If they have reached it with drones, it represents another setback for Israel’s deterrence and air superiority in the region. Targeting Tel Aviv has been a theme for Israel’s enemies stretching back to the 1948 War of Independence. Saddam Hussein also targeted Tel Aviv with Scud missiles in 1991.”
Even though Yemen’s actions have earned the praise and recognition of Palestinian resistance factions, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), some anti-Zionist activists online have used the opportunity to attack the Ansarallah movement, exposing their stance on the region’s resistance against the occupation state.
Journalist CJ Werleman, a self-proclaimed reformed Islamophobe, is one such case with his critical remarks on the Sanaa government, frequently highlighting what he deems to be “sectarian” aspects of the conflict in Yemen.
Yet he is accused of exaggerating the sectarian nature of the Yemeni conflict, framing it in a way that aligns with his past controversial views. His tweets on X a day after the Tel Aviv operation, criticising “the Houthis” and citing his own articles as a credible source come at a time when Yemen has made substantial moves against Israel.
This pattern of commentary certainly raises questions around the motivations behind Werleman’s persistent focus on sectarian narratives and his disregard for perspectives of the Palestinian resistance themselves.
While much of the media attention has focused on recent escalations with Hezbollah in the northern front and the looming prospects of war with Lebanon, the opening of the new front in the south with Yemen presents a serious strategic challenge for Israel.
Unlike Hezbollah, which although is powerful and well-armed, is nonetheless a non-state actor, the Yemeni armed forces represent a more conventional military threat with a significant arsenal of advanced weaponry. This makes the Yemeni front arguably a more formidable and direct threat to the security of the occupation state. As such, this fifth phase, or new front in the war will compel Israel to reconsider its strategic priorities and allocate resources to address threats on multiple fronts.
The escalation between Yemen and Israel is a pivotal development in the current war. Yemen’s actions, driven by solidarity with Gaza and legitimate concerns over its sovereignty – particularly regarding the UAE-facilitated Israeli presence in Socotra – have introduced a new dynamic that undermines Israel’s strategic calculations.
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