Yemen: Houthis Openly Plant Naval Mines

Port of Hodeidah (File Photo: Reuters)
Port of Hodeidah (File Photo: Reuters)
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Yemen: Houthis Openly Plant Naval Mines

Port of Hodeidah (File Photo: Reuters)
Port of Hodeidah (File Photo: Reuters)

Yemeni politicians and observers consider Houthis' admission to manufacturing naval mines a direct challenge to the international community, a flagrant threat to the Red Sea shipping routes, and further proof of the Iranian involvement in providing military-technical support to the militias as well as smuggling weapons to them.

Houthi media recently broadcast clear footage of alleged militia-made naval mines to confirm the group's explicit recognition of its capabilities to plant mines, despite previous denials.

Observers believe Houthis are unlikely to have the ability to manufacture any quality weapons without Iranian expertise or the help of Lebanon's Hezbollah. However, others consider that the militias’ behavior is the result of their recent defeats on the west coast.

"Iran wants to show its maritime terrorist capabilities through Houthis on the west coast amid US insistence on its next economic war on Iran," according to Head of al-Jazeera Centre for Studies Najib Gallab.

The Yemeni researcher pointed out that the group has already threatened more than once that it will transfer its battle to the Red Sea and carry out attacks on international shipping routes. This was met with strict reactions from the international and regional communities, as well as the Arab Coalition and Yemen's legitimacy.

Gallab noted that Iran may be directing Houthis "to carry out terrorist acts through booby-trapped boats and missiles to target the international trade corridor in the Red Sea."

He believes that the Houthi sea mines will not affect the battle on the west coast.

Gallab asserted that the militias will not be able to affect the Yemeni trade or influx of humanitarian aid “because any reckless action will be against them, given that mining will not affect the battle, but will be a foolish retaliation to serve Iran.”

Media adviser at the Yemeni embassy in Cairo Baligh al-Mekhlafi said that Houthis are trying to send clear messages to the international community that they have the ability to threaten navigation in the Red Sea.

Mekhlafi believes that the militias are unable to manufacture any weapons, whether marine mines or missiles, otherwise they would have used them earlier in the war.

He stressed that weapons are smuggled to militias through fishing boats that first reach Iranian ships at the sea before being transported to them.

Author and human rights activist Hamdan al-Ali is not surprised that the militias continue to violate the international and humanitarian law, including the group’s recent stunt of producing sea mines.

"The Houthi militia knows that before the world it is just a militia and has no legal status,” indicated Ali, adding that the world and the international organizations, especially the UN, deal only with the recognized political regimes and entities.

“(The militias) are reassured the international community will not hold them accountable," indicated the activist, noting that had the violations been committed by the legitimacy or the coalition countries, they would have been held accountable and perhaps subjected to sanctions.

Ali stresses that the only way to stop the Houthi violations and put an end to their threats is through military decisiveness as the most effective way to deal with this group that doesn’t fear any legal accountability.



Israel Strikes Syria After Projectiles Fired, Holds Sharaa Responsible 

An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israel Strikes Syria After Projectiles Fired, Holds Sharaa Responsible 

An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)

Israel has carried out its first airstrikes in Syria in nearly a month, saying it hit weapons belonging to the government in retaliation for the firing of two projectiles towards Israel and holding interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa responsible. 

Damascus said Israeli strikes caused "heavy human and material losses", reiterating that Syria does not pose a threat to any regional party and stressing the need to end the presence of armed groups and establish state control in the south. 

Israel had not struck Syria since early May - a month marked by US President Donald Trump's meeting with Sharaa, the lifting of US sanctions, and direct Syrian-Israeli contacts to calm tensions, as reported by Reuters last week. 

Israel has bombed Syria frequently this year. Israel has also moved troops into areas of the southwest, where it has said it won't allow the new government's security forces to deploy. 

The projectiles Israel reported fired from Syria were the first since longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad was toppled. The Israeli military said the two projectiles fell in open areas. 

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he held the Syrian president "directly responsible for any threat and fire toward the State of Israel". 

A Syrian Foreign Ministry statement said the accuracy of the reports of shelling towards Israel had not yet been verified. 

"We believe that there are many parties that may seek to destabilize the region to achieve their own interests," the Syrian Foreign Ministry added, as reported by the state news agency. 

A Syrian official told Reuters such parties included "remnants of Assad-era militias linked to Iran, which have long been active in the Quneitra area" and have "a vested interest in provoking Israeli retaliation as a means of escalating tensions and undermining current stabilization efforts". 

Several Arab and Palestinian media outlets circulated a claim of responsibility from a little-known group named "Martyr Mohammed Deif Brigades," an apparent reference to Hamas' military leader who was killed in an Israeli strike in 2024. 

Reuters could not independently verify the statement. 

The Syrian state news agency and security sources reported Israeli strikes targeting sites in the Damascus countryside and Quneitra and Daraa provinces. 

Local residents contacted by Reuters said Israeli shelling targeted agricultural areas in the Wadi Yarmouk region. They described increased tensions in recent weeks, including reported Israeli incursions into villages, where residents have reportedly been barred from sowing their crops. 

An Israeli strike also hit a former Syrian army base near the city of Izraa, a Syrian source said. 

Israel has said its goals in Syria include protecting the Druze, a religious minority with followers in both countries. 

Israel, which has occupied the Syrian Golan Heights since the 1967 Middle East war, bombed Syria frequently during the last decade of Assad's rule, targeting the sway of his Iranian allies. 

The newly-appointed US envoy to Syria said last week he believed peace between Syria and Israel was achievable. 

Around the same time that Israel reported the projectiles from Syria, the Israeli military said it intercepted a missile from Yemen. 

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said they targeted Israel's Jaffa with a ballistic missile. The group says it has been launching attacks against Israel in support of Palestinians during the Israeli war in Gaza.