Iran’s Ally Hezbollah Is Pummeled in Lebanon While the Houthis Sit on Their Hands in Yemen

As Hezbollah is pummeled in Lebanon in response to attacks on Israel, another Middle Eastern ally of the Iranian regime, the Yemeni Houthis, are for now at least, keeping their powder dry, perhaps after a strong Saudi demarche. Israel on Thursday warned residents of the Hezbollah stronghold at the Dahieh district of Beirut to evacuate the area, as the Israel Defense Forces planned to bomb the terror organization’s assets. The strikes were in response to rocket attacks on northern Israel. Those attacks were meant to avenge the killing of Ali Khamenei, “the great religious authority,” Hezbollah chief, Naim Qassem, said Wednesday. Iran has spent more than $1 billion in the last year in an attempt to rebuild Hezbollah’s arsenal, which was mostly destroyed in 2024. Mr. Qassem came to the Iranian regime’s aid even as he knew attacking Israel is extremely unpopular in Lebanon. Even Hezbollah’s top Shiite ally at Beirut, the Amal party, is now denouncing it.The other top Iranian proxy, the Houthis, considered in a much better position to harass Israel than Hezbollah, are waiting on the sideline.“It’s one thing to claim you’re helping the Palestinians, which is popular across the Arab world,” a Western diplomat who follows the Houthis closely tells The New York Sun. “It’s quite another to fight for Iran, which is not all that popular among Arabs.” Another likely reason for the eerie calm on the Yemeni front is strong warnings to the Houthis from their neighbors to stay out of the battle. Specifically, the diplomat said, Riyadh officials sent messages to Houthi leaders that if they join the war, the Saudis will hit them hard. The Houthis could be preserving their strength for later, perhaps even under instructions from Tehran. A Jerusalem source tells the Sun, though, that the Yemeni group might have calculated that its attacks on Israel in the last two years were largely ineffective. Instead, the source added, the Houthis are seeking to target Israeli or Jewish targets abroad. “We have no conflict with many of the countries or militias in the regions, but if Israel is attacked, we will use all of our power to defend ourselves,” the Israeli ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, told the Sun when asked about the Houthis.Meanwhile Israel’s conflict with its northern neighbor is reawakened. “We said very clearly to the Lebanese government that they have to take action against Hezbollah,” Mr. Danon said. “I have to give them credit for what they are saying, that they have issued very strong, bold statements, but they have to take action against Hezbollah.”The government at Beirut has issued strong condemnations after Hezbollah launched rockets at northern Israel earlier this week. Hezbollah, which has always cast itself as Lebanon’s defender, is instead seen by many Lebanese as paving the country’s road to ruin.After Israel killed key Hezbollah leaders, Iranian members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps moved to Lebanon to run the group’s military operations. On Thursday the Beirut government issued an unprecedented order for the arrest and deportation of all IRGC members operating in the country. “The Iranians were pressuring Hezbollah,” the Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, told Kan news in a rare interview Thursday. “They said, ‘we financed you, we built you,’ so Hezbollah had to act — not out of consideration for Lebanon, but on Iran’s behalf.” The Lebanese Armed Forces under the government’s control are no match for the much better-armed and trained Hezbollah. Many Lebanese, and implicitly the government, are now cheering on Israel to “finish the job” and disarm the Shiite terrorists in order to liberate the country.Back at Sanaa, the Houthis might be watching Lebanon before making any military commitment. Religiously, the Yemeni terror group is Zaidi, an offshoot of Shia Islam. Unlike Hezbollah, the Houthis have long argued that while they are part of the Iran-led “resistance,” their decisions are taken independently.For years, the Islamic Republic has invested more funds and efforts on building up anti-Israel proxy armies, known as the “ring of fire,” than on improving the Iranian economy or rebuilding the country’s necessary infrastructure. Now Lebanon is looking for Israel to save it from Hezbollah, while the Houthis are sitting on their hands while the Iranian regime is verging on collapse.

Iran’s Ally Hezbollah Is Pummeled in Lebanon While the Houthis Sit on Their Hands in Yemen

Iran’s Ally Hezbollah Is Pummeled in Lebanon While the Houthis Sit on Their Hands in Yemen

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