Netanyahu reportedly offers help in campaign against Houthis — Jerusalem Post
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly expressed the country’s readiness to join a broader campaign against the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen. The Jerusalem Post reported this, citing the Lebanese outlet Al Akhbar and U.S. diplomatic sources.
According to Al Akhbar, Netanyahu offered Israeli assistance to the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. The outlet suggests that Israel could join regional actions to counter threats to shipping in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Houthi advances in Yemen
The Jerusalem Post also writes that the Houthis are advancing in western Yemen and have reached the strategic island of Perim in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. This could potentially strengthen their control over one of the world’s important maritime routes.
Israel is monitoring the Houthis’ actions after they seized the Yemeni port city of Mocha near the strait, the Israeli newspaper Maariv reported. According to its information, Israeli officials fear that the group may entrench itself in the port and increase pressure on oil tankers and merchant vessels in the region.
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A military source said that Israel is tracking the fighting in Yemen and shifts in the balance of power along the coast. Israeli officials assess that Houthi control of the port could complicate shipping to the Red Sea and create additional risks for regional trade and energy routes.
Warnings and drills in Eilat
Israel Defense Forces Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Israeli Navy Commander Vice Adm. Eyal Harel warned the Houthis and Iran this week. Zamir stated that Israeli forces would not allow radical adversaries to create existential threats or terrorist organizations to entrench themselves near Israel’s borders.
The Israel Defense Forces also completed large-scale divisional drills led by the 80th Division in Eilat and the surrounding area, including the city’s waters. During the exercises, forces practiced a scenario involving a mass incursion into Eilat by sea, air and land by Houthi fighters and pro-Iranian groups, as well as responses to the seizure of civilian facilities and mass hostage-taking.
