Israel's devastating campaigns against Iran's regionalallies have severely weakened its arch-enemy's ability to project its power,but Yemen's Tehran-backed Houthi rebels remain a stubborn thorn in its side,analysts say.
The Shiite Muslim rebel group controls much of Yemen,including the capital Sanaa, and has proven willing to repeatedly launchmissile and drone attacks at Israel from afar, despite posing a limited threatto it militarily.
"Fighting the Houthis is a difficult endeavor forIsrael for a number of reasons, the main being distance, which doesn't allowfor frequent strikes, and the lack of intelligence on the group," MichaelHorowitz, head of intelligence for Le Beck, a Middle East-based geopoliticalconsultancy, told AFP.
Horowitz said he expected Israel to adopt a strategy similarto its approach to Hezbollah, potentially targeting key Houthi leaders forassassination and disrupting smuggling routes as it did with repeated strikesin Lebanon and Syria.
Despite causing minimal damage due to Israel's advancedmissile defense systems, the near-daily Houthi strikes in recent weeks havesignificantly disrupted civilian life in Israel.
While most of the missiles and drones launched from Yemenare intercepted, one missile this month wounded 16 people in Tel Aviv, Israel'smilitary and emergency services said.
In response, the Israeli air force has struck Houthi targetsin Yemen including Sanaa's international airport.
Israel's key ally the United States has also carried outstrikes against the Houthis to prevent the group's repeated attacks on shippingin the Red Sea.
"The Houthis remain the only ones still firing atIsrael on a daily basis and it's a problem that is not easy to solve,"said Guzansky, a senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studiesat Tel Aviv University.
The Houthis "are a nuisance and a menace," saidMenahem Merhavy, a researcher at the Truman Institute at Hebrew University ofJerusalem.
That could make a joint response more likely, especiallyonce U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office, Merhavy added.
During his previous term, Trump brokered groundbreakingnormalization agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrainand Morocco, known collectively as the Abraham Accords.
"Iran has been so severely weakened and so severelyexposed as vulnerable that I think it makes an agreement between Israel andSaudi Arabia more likely, especially if there's going to be some kind ofceasefire in Gaza," he said.
Tehran, he said, "is skilled at regenerating its proxynetworks," and could step up its nuclear program "as adeterrent" against Israel and the United States.
By Ruth Eglash, AgenceFrance-Presse
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