After 9 long months, Ansar Allah has proved itself as a force to be reckoned with. A country that has been inflicted with poverty, famine, and war at the hands of the imperial powers and their Arab collaborators, has chosen to put the rifle before itself. It has taken the lead as a supportive wing to the Palestinian Resistance during the genocide of Gaza, carrying with it a few locally sourced weapons and ample amounts of willpower.

From their domination of the Red Sea to now a direct attack on Tel Aviv, their war effort has been unprecedented, bringing to life the historical truth which inevitably resurfaces during every anti-colonial endeavour; nothing is more capable of bringing down empires than a united resistance. By continuously bypassing both the occupation entity and its US sponsor, it has also dismantled the occupation’s supposed untouchability, and effectively minimised the brunt of the attack on Gaza by forcing the entity to shift its focus beyond its borders.

In this article, we look over Yemen’s ‘phased’ operations, with a specific focus on its 5th phase, analysing its strategy and significance. 

Destroying the myth of untouchability: a run-down of AnsarAllah’s strategy so far

“Our operational path from the beginning was directed in stages, adding a new operational scope to each stage and developing weapons to perform combat tasks.” - Abdul-Malik Al Houthi, July 21st, 2024 speech via RNN [1].

The development of AnsarAllah’s strategy had 5 key phases: 

Phase 1: Naval operations in the Red Sea 

This phase marked the beginning of Yemen’s domination over the entity’s maritime relations. It pitched Yemen against long standing normalisation efforts, directly challenging the status quo by preventing the occupation entity from functioning as a legitimate state in regional waters. At the time, more than 90% of container ships bound for the Suez Canal had to be rerouted, adding a dozen days to travel time.

Here, Ansar Allah effectively gained control over the Bab Al Mandeb Strait, which meant control over a worldwide economic chokepoint, as it is one of the most important routes for oil transportation.   

Phase 2: Blockade expands to non-Israeli vessels

As the entity continued its blockade of Gaza to starve the population, phase 2 of Ansar Allah’s strategy sought to tighten the chokehold. This included blocking ships from any country seeking to approach the entity’s ports. The makeshift US-led Red Sea coalition of non-Arab states failed to stop Ansar Allah, as these countries did not see it in their interest to be dragged into a US fight, further highlighting how the US is losing its legitimacy as the world's ‘global police.’ US escalation only exacerbated attacks on its own ships, including the US ‘Eisenhower’ aircraft carrier. 

Phase 3: Operations expand to the Indian Ocean 

If not already clear by their domination of the Red Sea, Ansar Allah extended its blockade to the Indian Ocean. This move spotlighted Ansar Allah’s consistency and well-planned strategy– a foreshadowing of its ability to sustain itself throughout this confrontation. As Ansar Allah began closing in on the entity, their only path was through the Mediterranean Sea.

Phase 4: Operations extend into the Mediterranean Sea

In this phase, the entity risked losing access to its final maritime waterway, forming another obstacle which challenged the entity's high economic dependence on sea trade. Escalating into the Mediterranean Sea was particularly impactful, as this area has long been considered NATO's territory. By extension, it was a direct challenge to the US which planned to create an ‘aid port’ that sought to covertly facilitate further control.

The coordination between the Iraqi Resistance and Ansar Allah strengthened, with reports of the establishment of a new coordination and communication office in Baghdad. Though their coordination began much earlier, its levels increased in preparation for phase 5. Along with tightening alliances, Ansar Allah began creating new locally made weapons such as the Palestine ballistic missile, to account for the technical, operational, and long-range requirements in this phase. 

It is worth noting that AnsarAllah’s consistent strategy has cost the Eilat port more than 50 million shekels ($13,680,805) as reported by the CEO of the port, Gideon Gobler. 8 months of blockades has meant that the port is effectively non-operational, bringing in zero revenue.

Phase 5: Scope of operations expand into the heart of the entity

In each stage, Ansar Allah carefully measured the Zionist strategy, which depended on isolating the Palestinian Resistance to exert full material force on a confined area. Ansar Allah effectively turned this strategy on its head; it is now the entity that has become the isolated one in the region, one blockade at a time.

After its recent attack on Tel Aviv, Ansar Allah has positioned itself among the growing list of Resistance Axis members that have been able to bypass the Iron Dome, exposing its fragility. The occupation has suffered a major psychological blow with the economic heart of the entity coming under attack. As anxieties spread over Sanaa’s increased capabilities and range, the occupation is forced to prepare itself for the possibility of direct attacks from outside of Palestine in future.

“The Yafa drone is an advanced UAV with clear tactical and technical capabilities, long-range and good destructive power surpassing any other drone.” - Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, July 21st 2024 speech via RNN.

In his recent speech, Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi made clear that the weapons Ansar Allah uses are both manufactured in and launched from Yemen, contrary to the popular belief that all of its weapons are supplied by Iran. This has served the Ansar Allah to not only sustain itself for more than 8 months, but to actively escalate the battle on its own terms as well, proving, with its own locally sourced weapons how highly effective and capable the group has grown to be. This also points to the strategic intelligence of the Axis as a whole; by choosing to strengthen each individual member of the Axis rather than mirroring traditional US alliances built on dependency, the Axis has been able to subvert the Achilles' Heel of imperial alliances where each member is dependent on the imperial core to function.  

Ansar Allah’s careful preparation is partly because this confrontation has allowed them to engage the US and Zionist entity directly, rather than fighting them through their agents which the movement had been doing for 8 years; Saudi Arabia may have been the one to wage the war, but it was American bombs that rained on Yemen. In the past, the terms of engagement were set and controlled by the US – now they are determined by the Axis. 

The success of Phase 5 is another indication that the illusion of the Iron Dome is failing, and with it the prestige of this colonial project. The occupation entity is losing its apparent deterrence capability, because strategy cannot be bought. This is a sentiment that is shared even among Israeli officials:  

“Those who do not prevent missiles at Kiryat Shmona and Eilat should not be surprised when they receive them in Tel Aviv.” - Avigdor Lieberman, Leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu Party.

Here, the age-old historical truth has resurfaced, that amassing material power is not the guarantor of success against a motivated resistance force. We see this even in the occupation entity's response to Sanaa’s attack. In typical colonial fashion, the Zionist target was the civilian infrastructure of Yemen’s western port city of Hodeidah, as Yemen announced its attack on another US ship in the Red Sea. This was followed by a series of airstrikes carried out by a US-UK coalition against the Governorate.

Yet here lies another major miscalculation – Yemen cannot be hit with anything it has not yet experienced, so these threats have little effect. From imposed famine to international isolation, all imperial strategies have been exhausted to attempt to break a population that refuses to crack. 8 years of war have prepared them for this moment, and the line has already been drawn by its leader – any aggression on Yemen will only risk escalating Yemen’s operations further. 

Synergy within the Axis

There are layers to Ansar Allah’s strategic intelligence. Not only has each phase built on their previous capabilities, but each one has been established with careful consideration of the wider Axis’ broader goals and capabilities. 

In his speech on the 21st of July, Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi did not identify the stages of Yemen’s operations since October 7th independently of the wider resistance. He started with an homage to the operations carried out by the Lebanese Resistance which dampened the effectiveness of the Zionist strategy: 

“The first thing that impacted Zionist strategy was the support front in Lebanon where Hezbollah continuously exerted pressure. Hezbollah’s front is hot and influential, targeting Zionist sites, bases, and settlements, and contributed to alleviating the pressure on the Palestinian people.”  - Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, July 21st 2024 speech via RNN.

The occupation entity could not exert its usual strategy of full military force on a geographically isolated area because attention was pulled to the northern border. Ansar Allah built on this strategy, by pulling the entity’s attention toward their maritime borders as tensions built from the South. Month after month, the occupation entity became increasingly isolated; in collaboration with the Lebanese Resistance, Yemen turned the Zionist strategy on its head. The primary purpose of opening up a ‘supportive front’ was from here defined as alleviating the pressure on the Palestinian people; Yemen is fully aware that their actions will turn attention towards them because that is the goal – the Zionists have once again played in Ansar Allah’s hands by pulling their focus away from Gaza. 

This collaboration has culminated today in Yemen’s largest attack to date in the heart of the Zionist entity. By attacking Tel Aviv, Yemen is essentially building on one of the Lebanese Resistance's main goals, which is to dismantle the pristine image of safety that the occupation entity has sought to protect, and encourage settlers to never return.

In this way, each member of the Axis fills the gaps of the other; coordination is based on who is best placed to do what. Since Ansar Allah cannot be threatened with all-out war as it is not geographically possible, it was best placed to take the most radical action in a way that would not be strategically sound for the other members of the Axis (at this point in time) that border the entity. 

Through its attack, Ansar Allah is also effectively building on the Lebanese Resistance's forms of psychological warfare. The perceived omnipotence of material power is sustained only by those who fear it; The perception of safety only solidifies where there is never a threat to peace. In coordination with the Axis, Ansar Allah’s strategy is uncovering these realities which colonial projects seek to mask, and it has become too difficult to ignore. 

Conclusion 

“If the airstrikes, attacks, and targeting of civilian installations in our country had an impact on our people, then the American agents’ [Saudi Arabia and their coalition] raids would have affected them over the continuous 8 years.” - AbdulMalik Al Houthi, July 21st 2024 speech via RNN.

Over the course of 8 months, Ansar Allah has proven itself to be one of the most competent strategic powers in the region. Against all odds, including a hostile government which is still subservient to Saudi interests and the lasting effects of an imposed 8-year war, they have chosen the path of the rifle for the sake of Palestine.

Ansar Allah not only sets its own terms, but increases the shape and scope of the battle when it sees fit. Coordination across the Axis is as strong as ever. New phases are established while manufacturing new weapons to go hand in hand, which have increased range and defensive capabilities than the previous. Blow after blow, the entity’s lack of deterrence force is being exposed, which has long been its main source of pride. The commander of the Ansar Allah has made clear that Yemen has more to give and escalations will not end, should the imperial powers continue their aggressions.

Once again, it is Ansar Allah that is setting the terms of engagement.