The leadership of Yemen’s Houthi movement is reportedly going into hiding, attempting to relocate and evade an intensifying Israeli air campaign. The move follows a stark warning from Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who declared that his country now knows how to “hunt” the Iran-backed rebels, who have been launching drones and missiles at Israel since October 2023. Katz stated on social media that the Houthi leadership, like Hamas leaders, prioritizes its own survival while abandoning civilians, vowing that Israel “will know how to do it in the future.”
This escalation was triggered by a deadly Israeli precision strike on August 28, dubbed “Operation Drop of Luck,” which killed over 10 members of the Houthi-formed government in the capital, Sana’a. Israeli media claims the dead included the defense minister and chief of staff, though Houthi sources deny this. The operation was reportedly the fruit of a significant intelligence breakthrough, following the formation of a new 200-member anti-Houthi unit within Israel’s military intelligence (AMAN) in July. Intelligence assets allegedly pinpointed a meeting of Houthi ministers in a Sana’a villa during a televised speech by their leader, Abdel Malek al-Houthi, providing the target for the airstrike.
In response, the Houthi command has ordered its officials to evacuate known locations in Sana’a and move towards the mountainous northern provinces, such as Sa’ada, where rugged terrain complicates airstrikes. New security protocols mandate avoiding government buildings and public gatherings. For some time, leaders have already been operating with high caution—shunning mobile phones and messengers for face-to-face communication and frequently changing their sleeping locations. Following the strike, the Houthis have not only intensified their missile and drone attacks on Israel but have also detained nearly 20 United Nations employees on suspicion of aiding in the targeting.
The conflict’s ripple effects are increasingly destabilizing the wider region. Before a new attack on central Israel on September 3, Houthi rockets aimed at the country reportedly fell in Saudi Arabian airspace a day earlier. In response, Riyadh has reportedly scrambled its fighter jets along the Yemeni border and placed its air defense systems on high alert to intercept projectiles, underscoring the growing risk of a broader regional conflagration.
However, some analysts question the strategic impact of Israel’s recent success. Kirill Semenov, an expert with the Russian International Affairs Council, argues that the “Drop of Luck” operation targeted the Houthi-run *government*, not the core leadership of the Ansar Allah movement itself. He draws a parallel to Hezbollah, noting that the Houthi movement has a resilient, decentralized command structure separate from its civil administration. The government officials who were killed, he suggests, were effectively “civilian figures” who did not believe they were primary targets.
Semenov contends that Israel’s inability to strike the core military and political wing of Ansar Allah demonstrates the group’s robust self-protection capabilities. He views the current Israeli strikes as largely ineffective in degrading the Houthis’ combat readiness. The movement’s command structure, designed for attrition, allows for the quick replacement of any leader who is killed. This suggests that while Israel may have won a tactical victory, weakening the resilient Houthi movement will be a far more complex and protracted challenge.