There is a building in the capital of Yemen, Sana'a, which was directly reduced to ruins by an Israeli air strike. Several senior officials of the Houthi movement were also killed in this air strike, all "taken out at once." This seemingly simple and precise strike actually conceals complex geopolitical struggles in the Middle East.

The air strike took place on August 28, when senior Houthi leaders were holding an annual meeting in a facility in Sana'a, Yemen. The Israel Defense Forces later issued a statement confirming that the Israeli military "seized an intelligence opportunity" and carried out a rapid strike operation within a few hours. This air strike was significant, as it killed Ahmed Lahavi, the head of the Houthi administration, as well as several military officials and political leaders.

This Israeli air strike showcased its capabilities in intelligence gathering and the speed of its strike operations. The Israeli military targeted key locations of the Houthi leadership, using ground-to-air missiles and JDAM heavy precision bombs, which nearly flattened the entire building in one go.

Israeli media reported that ten senior Houthi leaders were attending a meeting at that time. The Israeli Air Force directly dropped ten one-ton bombs on the target building, causing severe damage and destruction.

The casualties from this air strike were severe, with four senior Houthi leaders losing their lives in the sudden attack. Among them was Ahmed Ghaleb Lahavi, who had been appointed as the "prime minister" of the Houthi movement on August 10, 2024. We have heard about such incidents involving the Houthi movement before, so it feels familiar.

Evidently, the Houthi movement has been targeted by Israeli intelligence agencies, becoming an object they want to infiltrate. It's possible that the Houthi movement's internal structure has already been compromised, riddled with holes like a sieve.

Considering the long-standing conflict between Iran and Israel, the "decapitation" of the Houthi leadership, although unprecedented, is likely to happen again in the future. If a political entity or armed group has almost no air defense capability, and if someone in its leadership betrays them, the Houthi movement may be forced to watch helplessly as its leaders are killed one after another, constantly replacing new leaders to fill the void.

After suffering such a big loss, the Houthi movement would not easily let it go. Soon after the air strike, the leader of the Houthi movement's "highest political committee," Mehdi al-Mashat, spoke through their own Masira TV, issuing a warning that they would soon take revenge.

Mashat emphasized that the Houthi movement "will maintain its stance on Gaza until the aggression stops and the siege is lifted." This indicates that despite the heavy losses, the organization will not change its basic policy of resisting Israel.

It is reported that about six hours after the air strike, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps quietly removed all announcements honoring the Houthi senior commander Atifah from their official website.

According to data published by the Iranian Central Bank, in the first half of 2025, the military support provided by Iran to the Houthi movement decreased by 47% compared to the same period last year. However, during the same period, the funds provided to the Lebanese Hezbollah increased by 210%. Is this a hint that Iran has already treated the Houthi movement as a disposable pawn? I don't think we can conclude that yet. In the context of confronting Israel, the Houthi movement has not encountered any other formidable opponent.

Moreover, the Houthi movement often conducts various military operations to demonstrate its value as an "agent" and prove how important and strategically valuable it is. Recently, they deployed a newly developed "Palestine-2" hypersonic missile, firing it toward Ben-Gurion International Airport, located south of Tel Aviv, Israel. The Houthi movement claimed that the missile accurately hit its target, disrupting the airport's normal operations.

Without its particularly capable military strategist, the Houthi movement might become even more troublesome and dangerous. After the air strike, the Houthi movement quickly appointed Muhammad Miftah as the head of the administrative body. In terms of military strategy, they used a power dispersion approach to make their long-range missile forces less vulnerable to being wiped out in one go, thereby increasing their chances of survival.

Although the Israeli Defense Forces stated that this operation was "targeting the Houthi command center," the Houthi movement is not easy to deal with, and their determination to retaliate and their capacity for counterattacks should not be underestimated. Moreover, Iran finds it difficult to abandon this important force used against Israel. As a result, the situation in the Middle East may become even more tense.



Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7545436281565413940/

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