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Analysts: Houthi Engagement in Gaza War Unlikely to Affect Peace Efforts in Yemen

Members of Houthi military forces parade in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida, Yemen September 1, 2022. Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS
Members of Houthi military forces parade in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida, Yemen September 1, 2022. Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS
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Analysts: Houthi Engagement in Gaza War Unlikely to Affect Peace Efforts in Yemen

Members of Houthi military forces parade in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida, Yemen September 1, 2022. Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS
Members of Houthi military forces parade in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida, Yemen September 1, 2022. Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS

Analysts ruled out that the Houthi group’s involvement in the current war in Gaza would affect the ongoing peace efforts in Yemen.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, analysts said the Houthis, by announcing the targeting of Israel, sought to express popular support for the Palestinians, suggesting that Israel would respond by attacking Houthi military targets, while ruling out any US intervention, at least at the current stage.

On Tuesday, the Houthi group in Yemen officially claimed responsibility for bombing Israel with missiles and drones. The announcement came after the US and Israeli forces previously said the attacks came from the southern Red Sea.

Mustafa Naaman, the former Undersecretary of the Yemeni Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the “Houthi endeavour” in Gaza will not have an impact on the internal situation and the ongoing negotiations between the parties to the Yemeni conflict.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Naaman said that he expects that the recent events would accelerate the closure of the Yemeni war and would see the start of addressing the humanitarian side.

For his part, Dr. Hisham Al-Ghannam, the General Supervisor of the Center for Security Research and National Security Programs at Naif Arab University for Security Sciences (NAUSS), explained that the Houthis have repeatedly announced that they were part of what they called the “axis of resistance and opposition,” and that they would engage in any battle involving this axis.

Al-Ghannam went on to say that the Houthi move fell within the framework of an expression of popular support for the Palestinians and would not impact the ongoing efforts in Yemen.

“The internal Yemeni situation is complex and more complicated than it appears to be... Certainly, the symbolic involvement in a battle far from Yemen will have no impact on the internal Yemeni negotiations, because the intra-Yemeni disputes have nothing to do with Palestine...” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Al-Ghannam also ruled out any “American intervention against the Houthis, unless their forces or interests are directly targeted.”

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Hezbollah’s ‘Statelet’ in Syria’s Qusayr Under Israeli Fire

Smoke billows from al-Qusayr in western Syria following an attack. (SANA)
Smoke billows from al-Qusayr in western Syria following an attack. (SANA)
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Hezbollah’s ‘Statelet’ in Syria’s Qusayr Under Israeli Fire

Smoke billows from al-Qusayr in western Syria following an attack. (SANA)
Smoke billows from al-Qusayr in western Syria following an attack. (SANA)

Israel has expanded its strikes against Hezbollah in Syria by targeting the al-Qusayr region in Homs.

Israel intensified its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon in September and has in the process struck legal and illegal borders between Lebanon and Syria that are used to smuggle weapons to the Iran-backed party. Now, it has expanded its operations to areas of Hezbollah influence inside Syria itself.

Qusayr is located around 20 kms from the Lebanese border. Israeli strikes have destroyed several bridges in the area, including one stretching over the Assi River that is a vital connection between Qusayr and several towns in Homs’ eastern and western countrysides.

Israel has also hit main and side roads and Syrian regime checkpoints in the area.

The Israeli army announced that the latest attacks targeted roads that connect the Syrian side of the border to Lebanon and that are used to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah.

Qusayr is strategic position for Hezbollah. The Iran-backed party joined the fight alongside the Syrian regime against opposition factions in the early years of the Syrian conflict, which began in 2011. Hezbollah confirmed its involvement in Syria in 2013.

Hezbollah waged its earliest battles in Syria against the “Free Syrian Army” in Qusayr. After two months of fighting, the party captured the region in mid-June 2013. By then, it was completely destroyed and its population fled to Lebanon.

A source from the Syrian opposition said Hezbollah has turned Qusayr and its countryside to its own “statelet”.

It is now the backbone of its military power and the party has the final say in the area even though regime forces are deployed there, it told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Qusayr is critical for Hezbollah because of its close proximity to the Lebanese border,” it added.

Several of Qusayr’s residents have since returned to their homes. But the source clarified that only regime loyalists and people whom Hezbollah “approves” of have returned.

The region has become militarized by Hezbollah. It houses training centers for the party and Shiite militias loyal to Iran whose fighters are trained by Hezbollah, continued the source.

Since Israel intensified its attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon, the party moved the majority of its fighters to Qusayr, where the party also stores large amounts of its weapons, it went on to say.

In 2016, Shiite Hezbollah staged a large military parade at the al-Dabaa airport in Qusayr that was seen as a message to the displaced residents, who are predominantly Sunni, that their return home will be impossible, stressed the source.

Even though the regime has deployed its forces in Qusayr, Hezbollah ultimately holds the greatest sway in the area.

Qusayr is therefore of paramount importance to Hezbollah, which will be in no way willing to cede control of.

Lebanese military expert Brig. Gen Saeed Al-Qazah told Asharq Al-Awsat that Qusayr is a “fundamental logistic position for Hezbollah.”

He explained that it is where the party builds its rockets and drones that are delivered from Iran. It is also where the party builds the launchpads for firing its Katyusha and grad rockets.

Qazah added that Qusayr is also significant for its proximity to Lebanon’s al-Hermel city and northeastern Bekaa region where Hezbollah enjoys popular support and where its arms deliveries pass through on their way to the South.

Qazah noted that Israel has not limited its strikes in Qusayr to bridges and main and side roads, but it has also hit trucks headed to Lebanon, stressing that Israel has its eyes focused deep inside Syria, not just the border.