“Israel’s” Options to Confront Yemen’s Support for Gaza Are Narrowing. What’s the way Out?

Charles Abi Nader

Yemeni missile and other aerial attacks targeting “Israel” in support of Gaza and the Palestinian people have evolved into a strange situation from a military perspective.

The course of this battle has deviated from the common course of wars. The generally accepted assumption that a militarily superior side with greater capabilities has the upper hand, and a road to victory is being challenged.

Among the surprising characteristics of this battle is that the Yemeni units were able to create an intractable problem for "Israel". They have shown that “Israel” is unable to protect its depth, interior, and settlers against a party that is some 2,000km away from occupied Palestine.

So what are the reasons for the success of the ongoing Yemeni missile and drone attacks against the entity and "Israel’s" inability to completely prevent and confront them?

There are a number of explanations, including geography, the battlefield, as well as tactical and military components, which can be defined as follows:

First, Yemen's landscape is vast and sprawling, making it very difficult, even impossible, for "Israel" or its Western allies to succeed in controlling, confining, and besieging the Yemeni missile and drone launch bases.

These mobile bases are spread out over hundreds of kilometers and fortified under inaccessible mountains, which characterize the lands of Yemen, especially its northern and western governorates from Saada to Sana'a and Hodeidah.

Moreover, the Yemeni people are a rare breed who lived through a violent war and faced harsh aggression for years. The Yemenis faced the most advanced Western air and missile capabilities in the world and experienced the maneuvers of missile and air confrontations, both defensively and offensively. Today, they are considered among the top and fiercest fighters in the world who fought the fiercest battles using all types of weapons, especially missiles and drones.

Another reason is the steadfastness and success of the Yemenis in this confrontation against "Israel", as they possess, through manufacturing, development, or importing, highly advanced hypersonic ballistic and cruise missiles and the most advanced drones in the world. They may also be the strongest fighting force both regionally and globally, having benefited from live battles over the years, to develop and improve the features and performance of these weapons.

The "Israeli" strategy has so far failed to stop Yemeni attacks and prevent a wide range of repercussions on the daily lives of "Israelis". However, "Israel" doesn’t have much in the way of alternative options, diplomatically and militarily.

Many “Israeli” observers agree that it would be reckless and ultimately unsuccessful for Tel Aviv to opt for the most dangerous option - a large-scale operation against Yemen, which would include a combination of air and ground attacks.

Given the current state of affairs, "Israel" has no choice but to submit to a political settlement and end the aggression on Gaza.