Houthis Signal Halt to Attacks on Israel as Gaza Ceasefire Holds

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have signaled they have stopped their attacks against Israel and Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea. In a letter published online by Hamas’s Qassam Brigades, the Houthis conveyed their clearest indication yet that their regional campaign has paused. The undated message, signed by Maj. Gen. Yusuf Hassan al-Madani, the Houthis’ newly appointed military chief of staff, warned that fighting could resume if hostilities in Gaza restart.

“We are closely monitoring developments and declare that if the enemy resumes its aggression against Gaza, we will return to our military operations deep inside the Zionist entity, and we will reinstate the ban on Israeli navigation in the Red and Arabian Seas,” al-Madani wrote.

Al-Madani took over as Houthi chief of staff on October 17 following the killing of his predecessor, Mohammed al-Ghamari, in an Israeli strike. Since then, the Iran-backed group has largely remained silent on operations, with its last claimed missile attack on Israel occurring on October 5 and its final drone strike on October 7.

The Houthis began launching missiles and drones at Israel in November 2023, a month after Hamas’s October 7 massacre sparked the Gaza war. Over the following year, they fired more than 130 ballistic missiles and dozens of drones and cruise missiles toward Israel, including one that killed a civilian and wounded several others in Tel Aviv in July 2024. That attack prompted Israel’s first direct strike in Yemen.

Israel’s military has since targeted Houthi positions 19 times, killing senior commanders and damaging missile sites. The rebel group, whose slogan calls for “Death to America, Death to Israel, [and] a Curse on the Jews,” also targeted international shipping in the Red Sea, sinking four vessels and killing at least nine crew members, according to reports.

The attacks severely disrupted one of the world’s busiest trade corridors, through which goods worth an estimated $1 trillion pass each year. In response, Israel and the United States launched repeated strikes against Houthi facilities across Yemen.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the threat last week, vowing, “We will do whatever is necessary to eliminate this danger.” Senior Houthi figure Mohammed al-Bukhaiti responded in an interview with Al Jazeera, saying the group would act “with power, immediately and painfully if necessary,” and declaring, “We are an existential threat to Israel, and the end of this entity will come from the Houthis.”

No new Houthi attacks have been reported since the Gaza ceasefire took effect on October 10.