Recent rapid military gains by Yemen’s Houthi movement, Ansar Allah, along Yemen’s western Red Sea coast have triggered a flurry of diplomatic and security maneuvering across the Middle East, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly offering Israeli military support to Arab Gulf states for a coordinated, comprehensive campaign against the group, according to regional media reports.
Lebanese outlet Al-Akhbar, in a report by its editor Ibrahim al-Amin, revealed that Netanyahu has been pressing Israel’s top security and military leadership to draft contingency plans for potential offensive action against both Iran and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a key Houthi ally. Israeli media outlets have framed the proposed Israeli intervention as a core component of a broader regional push to counter Houthi expansion and neutralize the threat the movement poses to commercial shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb strait and the Red Sea—one of the world’s busiest and most geostrategically important maritime trade corridors.
Al-Akhbar separately noted that the Houthi seizure of the key coastal city of Mocha and the group’s steady expansion along Yemen’s western coastline have emerged as a top security priority for Israeli intelligence and defense officials. Israeli strategic assessments warn that full Houthi control over the western coast and the Bab al-Mandeb strait would not only place unprecedented pressure on global shipping but also test the limits of U.S.-led maritime security initiatives in the region. Israeli intelligence agencies are currently maintaining continuous, close surveillance of Houthi troop movements, with particular focus on how control of Mocha could enhance the group’s capacity to intercept and disrupt oil tankers and commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea. The report also cites Israeli defense analysts concluding that the accelerating Houthi advance will likely require Israel to increase its naval presence in waters adjacent to the Bab al-Mandeb strait.
The fall of Mocha has significantly strengthened Houthi control over the entire maritime corridor connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, opening new opportunities for enhanced regional security cooperation between Israel and Saudi Arabia, according to some Israeli analysts. Yoel Guzansky, a researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, was cited as saying that simultaneous pressure on Saudi Arabia from Iran, the Houthis, and pro-Iranian militia groups in Iraq creates an opening for quiet, pragmatic security collaboration between Riyadh and Jerusalem. This potential cooperation could cover intelligence sharing, early warning systems, and joint defense against missile and drone attacks, Guzansky argued.
Israeli mass circulation newspaper Israel Hayom further reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has requested security assistance from regional partners to counter the Houthi advance, and made an indirect appeal for Israeli support through U.S. Central Command. According to the report, Riyadh specifically asked for help preventing the Houthis from sealing off the Bab al-Mandeb strait entirely. Still, Israeli defense officials have signaled that the country is unlikely to rush into a direct active military role, as Israeli strategists warn that open participation in the conflict would prompt the Houthis to resume large-scale missile and drone attacks targeting Israeli territory—a risk Israeli leaders are not eager to take at this juncture. Despite this caution, many Israeli analysts view the current Red Sea crisis as a rare opportunity to formalize and deepen long-unacknowledged security ties between Riyadh and Jerusalem.
On the ground, the military situation has evolved far beyond the initial Houthi capture of Mocha. After securing control of the Hays and Al-Khawkhah districts in western Yemen, Houthi forces advanced rapidly to seize Mocha, a strategic deep-water port. Since that victory, the group has announced the capture of Mayyun Island, located at the southern entrance of the Red Sea in the Bab al-Mandeb strait. Forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognized government have responded with a series of air strikes targeting Houthi positions across the contested region, and fighting has now spilled across the border into southern Saudi Arabia.
The human cost of the renewed conflict has climbed steeply. The International Organization for Migration reported Sunday that nearly 86,000 people have been displaced by the recent fighting, with around 10,000 additional people displaced in a single 24-hour period. More than 2,000 displaced people have already fled by sea to neighboring Djibouti, and the fighting has killed more than 500 combatants to date. On Sunday, the Houthis claimed responsibility for a coordinated ballistic missile and drone attack targeting a Saudi military base in the southern Saudi region of Sharurah. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree stated that the strike targeted weapons depots and command-and-control centers used by Saudi forces to coordinate what the Houthis call “aggression against the Yemeni nation.” Saree confirmed that the strikes hit their intended targets and issued a warning that the group would launch larger strikes deeper inside Saudi territory if the Saudi-led military campaign against Yemen continues. Separately, the Yemeni military announced that its air force had carried out three strikes against Houthi positions and barracks in the Taiz region.
Prominent regional news outlet Al Jazeera has characterized the latest Houthi advance as far more than a temporary tactical win on the battlefield. Securing full control over the Red Sea coast and nearby strategic islands not only gives the movement far greater capacity to disrupt global commercial shipping but also lays bare the deep internal divisions and institutional weakness of Yemen’s internationally backed government, Al Jazeera reported. As the conflict intensifies and the threat to shipping grows, commercial traffic through the Bab al-Mandeb has plummeted: from an average of 70 vessels per day before the latest crisis to just 26 vessels per day at present.
This reporting draws on independent on-the-ground and regional analysis from Middle East Eye, a leading source of independent coverage of Middle East and North African affairs.