Israel hits the Houthis: Is this the opening of a bigger campaign?

​Smoke rises after Israeli strikes near Sanaa airport, in Sanaa, Yemen, on Dec. 26, 2024.
Smoke rises after Israeli strikes near Sanaa airport, in Sanaa, Yemen, on Dec. 26, 2024.
REUTERS/Khaled AbdullahShareRewrite

Israel on Thursday struck military sites and power infrastructure across parts of Yemen controlled by the Houthi militia.

The move is the latest in an escalating tit-for-tat between Israel and the Iran-backed rebels who control most of Yemen and have launched several missiles and drones at Israel over the past week alone.

The Houthis pledged solidarity with Hamas in the days after the group’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and have attacked Israel directly as well as ships in the Red Sea since then.

Earlier this week, Israel threatened to kill the group’s leaders after a Houthi missile landed in a Tel Aviv playground.

Is this just a prelude? Israel in recent months has severely hobbled Iran’s other two main regional proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, killing the leaders of both groups. Is Israel gearing up for a bigger campaign against the last relatively unscathed part of Iran’s “axis of resistance”?

More from GZERO Media

In this new episode of Tools and Weapons, Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith sits down with Ted Sarandos to discuss how bold leadership and a culture of innovation keep Netflix ahead, not just as a media company, but as a force shaping both industries and audiences. Ted shares how intuition and data combine to turn daring ideas into practical solutions, from scaling storytelling across 190 countries to relentlessly creating content that gets under the skin of viewers and makes them feel deeply connected to the stories they watch. Subscribe and find new episodes monthly, wherever you listen to podcasts.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council via video link at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on October 24, 2025.
Sputnik/Alexey Babushkin/Pool via REUTERS

The US president imposed sanctions on the two largest Russian oil firms. The effectiveness of this strategy depends on whether it forces China and India to stop buying Russian crude.

- YouTube

The real US-China AI race isn’t about who builds the most powerful technology, but who applies and governs it in ways that strengthen—rather than undermine—society, Tristan Harris tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.