Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi rebels get full force of Israeli retaliation.

Following a deadly drone strike on Israel by Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi terrorists, Israeli Air Force fighter aircraft flew more than 1,000 miles to attack and destroy military targets at and around the Al Hodeidah port in western Yemen. Photos and video footage show significant damage and large fires. The Israeli air attack came in retaliation for a Houthi drone attack that killed one Israeli civilian and blew out numerous windows in a building close to the US consulate in Tel Aviv.

Houthi Rebels Undeterred by US

Questions are being floated — in the wake of repeated Houthi terrorist assaults on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, Bab Al Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden – about why the United States has been so weak in its counterstrikes. As the Associated Press observed:

“The rebels have targeted more than 70 vessels by firing missiles and drones in their campaign, killing four sailors. They seized one vessel and sank two [M/V Tutor and M/V Rubymar] since November … The attack comes despite a monthslong US-led campaign in the region that has seen the Navy face its most-intense maritime fighting since World War II, with near-daily attacks targeting commercial vessels and warships.”

By contrast, the Israeli government saw the need to discourage the Houthis from further terrorism after one of their drones impacted a neighborhood in Tel Aviv. It slipped through the formidable Israeli layered air defenses, hitting an apartment building where one person was killed and eight injured. Reports from Tel Aviv indicated that no air raid sirens warned of the impending attack.

“An Israeli official said the military was still investigating why the drone did not trigger the alarm, but initial reports suggested the aircraft was identified but the sirens were not sounded due to human error,” Reuters reported, adding “‘We’re talking about a large UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) that can fly large distances,’ the military official told journalists after the strike.”

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) lost no time in sending an unmistakable reply to the drone attack. Within 24 hours, the IAF fighter bombers laid waste to the Yemeni Red Sea port. “Israel has carried out air strikes on the Houthi-controlled Red Sea port of Hodeidah in Yemen, a day after a drone launched by the group hit Tel Aviv. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said his country aimed to send a message to the Houthi movement,” the BBC reported. The flames that engulfed the Houthi  port can be seen in the accompanying photograph.

Yemeni Port Rendered Useless by Israel

Hodeidah is believed to be the port from which the Houthi rebels launch watercraft like the explosive-laden unmanned surface vehicle believed to have attacked the M/V Tutor. With the damage to the port, it will be some time before the Houthis can again position surface vessels to strike commercial ships in the vicinity of Yemen. In the conflict raging in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways, destroying the Hodeidah port is an obvious operational priority to discourage the attacks, so why have the United States and its allies positioned in the Red Sea close to the Yemeni terrorists been so feckless in their responses?

The Biden administration’s excuse was that it did not want to escalate the conflict in the region, but that  myopic perspective ignores that the Iranian-sponsored enemies show no such restraint. Quite to the contrary, in a July 18 Pentagon briefing, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh explained, when asked about an attack on the US Al-Asad Airbase in Iraq, “We know that these are IRGC-backed militias that have launched these attacks on US forces in the past. Most likely than not it is one of those affiliate groups.” Whatever the US national security team thinks it’s doing, it certainly is not deterring Iranian-backed terrorist groups from attacking US facilities and US Navy-protected commercial vessels. On the other hand, Israel shows no reluctance in protecting its interests.

The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliate.