Netanyahu 'offers Israeli services' in 'comprehensive war' against Houthis, says report - Middle East Eye

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered "Israel’s services" to countries in the Arabian Peninsula and has expressed a willingness to participate in a “comprehensive war” against Ansar Allah, the Houthi movement in Yemen, Lebanese media have reported.

The report, by Al-Akhbar editor Ibrahim al-Amin, said that Netanyahu was pressing Israel’s security establishment and military to prepare for possible action against Iran and Hezbollah.

The proposed Israeli role was part of a "wider regional effort" to counter the Houthis and the threat to shipping through the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb, one of the world’s main maritime corridors, Israeli media said.

The Houthi capture of Mocha and the group’s expanding position along Yemen’s western coast are a "growing Israeli concern", a separate Al-Akhbar report said. 

Israeli assessments feared control of the coast and Bab al-Mandeb could add pressure on shipping and strain the US-led maritime protection, the report said.

Israeli intelligence agencies were closely monitoring Ansar Allah’s movements, fearing that control of Mocha could increase the group’s ability to influence tankers and ships entering the Red Sea, it added. 

The newspaper also cited Israeli assessments that the Houthi advance “may require intensifying Israeli naval activity in the vicinity of Bab al-Mandeb.”

The capture of Mocha has strengthened the Houthi position around the vital sea passage that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. 

The Institute for National Security Studies researcher, Yoel Guzansky, said simultaneous pressure on Saudi Arabia from Iran, the Houthis and militia groups in Iraq could open the way for “calm Israeli-Saudi security cooperation” involving intelligence, early warning and defence against missiles and drones, the report added. 

Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had sought assistance from regional countries and had made an indirect request to Israel through US Central Command.  

Riyadh had asked for help to stop the Houthis from blocking Bab al-Mandeb, it said.

The report said Israel was unlikely to rush into an active military role because of concern that the Houthis could resume missile and drone attacks against Israel. 

Israeli media reported that the crisis could provide an opportunity for closer Saudi-Israeli security ties.

On the ground, the situation has moved rapidly beyond the initial Houthi seizure of Mocha.

Houthi forces had reached the strategic port after taking Hays and Al-Khawkhah districts and advancing through western Yemen. 

The Houthis have since announced the capture of Mayyun Island in Bab al-Mandeb, while government forces said they were carrying out air strikes against Houthi positions. 

The renewed fighting has displaced nearly 86,000 people, the International Organization for Migration said on Sunday, after the figure rose by about 10,000 in a single day, with more than 2,000 reaching Djibouti by sea.

The fighting, which has killed more than 500 fighters, has also spread into Saudi Arabia.

On Sunday, the Houthis claimed that they had launched a ballistic missile and drone attack on a Saudi military base.

Ansar Allah military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the attack targeted the Sharurah base in southern Saudi Arabia, including “weapons depots and command and control centres that are managing the aggression against our nation and people”.

He said the strikes hit their targets and warned of bigger strikes deeper inside Saudi Arabia if attacks on Yemen continue.

The Yemeni military said its air force had conducted three strikes against Houthi positions and barracks in the Taiz region. 

Al Jazeera described the Houthi advance as more than a temporary battlefield gain.

Control of the Red Sea coast and nearby islands gives the group more ability to disrupt shipping, while exposing the weakness and divisions within Yemen’s internationally recognised government, it said.

As the human toll of the war continues to rise, commercial traffic through Bab al-Mandeb has dropped to about 26 vessels per day from an average of about 70 before the Red Sea crisis.