Questions & Answers - Who are the Houthis and what do they want in the Gaza war?
Rockets, drones, cruise missiles - with their arsenal of weapons, the Houthi rebels in Yemen are no longer just a local rebel group. Over the past few weeks, they have also turned the Red Sea into a secondary theater of the war between the Islamist Hamas and Israel. The Houthis have stepped up their attacks on merchant ships and recently attacked several freighters. The most important questions at a glance:
Who are the Huthi rebels?
The Huthi rebels officially call themselves "Ansar Allah" ("Supporters of God"). They belong to the Shiite Saidite movement, whose imams ruled northern Yemen until 1962. Since then, they have repeatedly instigated uprisings against the Sunni leadership in the capital Sanaa. In 2014, they took control there and now rule large parts of the country, especially in northern Yemen. Around a third of the Yemeni population are Saidis.
How strong are the Huthi rebels?
A 2019 analysis estimated that there are between 180,000 and 200,000 armed fighters. They have access to tanks and technical vehicles as well as anti-tank guided missiles, ballistic missiles, drones and cruise missiles. Since their uprising in 2014, the Houthis in Yemen have been fighting against the government and a military alliance led by Saudi Arabia, which wants to prevent the Houthis from further expanding their influence in the neighboring country.
Who is supporting the Houthis?
Above all Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Without their help, the Houthis would not have been able to build up their arsenal of weapons - including missiles with a range of up to 3,000 kilometers - according to experts. The Al-Quds Brigades, part of an elite unit of the Iranian armed forces, provided various types of weapons from 2014 onwards, writes the US think tank CSIS. The Al-Quds Brigades and Hezbollah also trained the fighters in order to improve the Houthis' combat tactics and enable them to use missiles and drones. The weapons are said to have been smuggled into Yemen by sea. Both Iran and Hezbollah deny or play down the connections for their Shiite co-religionists.
Why are Iran and Hezbollah supporting the Houthis?
Israel has been Iran's declared arch-enemy since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Since the 1990s, Tehran has expanded its relations in the region in order to create an "axis of resistance" against Israel by supporting Shiite militias. The Houthis are just as much a part of this as the Hezbollah movement. Because Hezbollah successfully drove Israel's army out of Lebanon, the militia is a kind of role model and mentor for the Houthis in their civil war, even though the two groups belong to different Shiite movements.
What do the Houthis want?
Above all, the rebels want to rule the whole of Yemen and gain international recognition for it. In the north, they have established a dwarf state in which they enforce their ideology in a totalitarian manner, presumably also by torturing and killing critics and journalists. Since 2016, they have increasingly attacked infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, particularly oil facilities, in order to undermine their military operations in Yemen. Around the same time, they began attacking merchant ships near the Bab al-Mandab strait.
How dangerous are the Houthis for Israel and the region?
The Houthis do not have as large a supply of weapons as Hezbollah in Lebanon, for example. But with their drones and missiles, they still pose a threat to shipping traffic in the region in particular, as well as to US military bases. Further attacks on ships could severely damage the economy and cause turmoil on the oil market. One of the world's most important shipping routes passes along the Yemeni coast, through which around ten percent of all global trade passes. As the attacks increase, so do concerns about an even greater escalation in the region.
What are the Houthis' views on the Gaza war?
The Houthis have declared their solidarity with Hamas and have also been attacking Israel since October 7. They have also threatened to attack all Israel-related ships. This is in line with the anti-Semitic and anti-American rhetoric of the Houthis and the hope of gaining wider recognition as part of the Iranian "Axis of Resistance". The attacks also fit with the rebels' narrative of being victims of a conspiracy between Israel, the US and Saudi Arabia, which resonates with the Yemeni population. The rebels are also using the attacks to distract attention from their own problems and demonstrate their strength.
In recent weeks, Houthi rebels have reportedly fired drones and missiles from the south of the Arabian Peninsula towards Israel on several occasions.
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Source: www.stern.de
