By Al-Fassel and AFP | 2023-10-31

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis fired drones towards Israel on Tuesday (October 31) in retaliation for its war against Hamas, a senior official from the group told AFP.

"These drones belong to the state of Yemen," Abdelaziz bin Habtour, prime minister of the Houthi government, said when asked about the launch towards Eilat in southern Israel.

The Houthis, who seized Yemen's capital Sanaa in a 2014 coup and control large swathes of the country, are part of the so-called "axis of resistance" against Israel and are fighting with "words and drones," he added.

Israel's military earlier reported a "hostile aircraft intrusion" that set off warning sirens in the area of Eilat, a resort town on the Red Sea.

"There is no threat in this region and no danger," Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari told a separate televised briefing.

Israel blamed the Houthis for a similar drone attack on October 27 in which its aircraft intercepted "hostile targets" headed for southern Israel.

Six people were lightly injured in neighboring Egypt when debris hit a building in the Sinai resort of Taba, just across the border from Eilat, the Egyptian army said at the time.

On October 19, the US Navy said it shot down three land-attack cruise missiles and "several" drones that had been fired by the Houthis, possibly at Israel.

At the time, the USS Carney was patrolling in the Red Sea as part of a heavily reinforced US military presence ordered by President Joe Biden to maintain stability in the wake of war between Israel and Hamas.

In a speech delivered October 10, the Houthis' leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, said he is in full coordination with "the axis of jihad and resistance" with regard to the events in Gaza.

Al-Houthi asserted his readiness to participate in the Hamas-Israel war with missile bombardment, drones and other available military options.

"The hypocrisy of Iran, its arms in the region and the so-called 'axis of resistance' regarding Palestine has been exposed to the Arab street," political analyst Fares al-Beel told Al-Fassel, commenting on the speech.

The Houthis kill Yemeni children and then cry over the children of Palestine, he said.

Political analyst Faisal Ahmed told Al-Fassel that al-Houthi's statements "have become a source of ridicule in the Yemeni street."

"Al-Houthi refused to pay the salaries of [government] employees and at the same time is offering his services to take part in the war in Gaza," he said.

Concerns over regional conflagration

Concerns are high over a regional conflagration especially as Iran, which financially and militarily backs Hamas -- but insists it had no involvement in the October 7 attack -- has loyalists and proxy fighters in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

Despite the denials, evidence suggests Iran knew about the Hamas attack before it was launched.

According to one report, hundreds of fighters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad received specialized combat training in Iran prior to the October 7 surprise attack.

Since the Gaza conflict began, there have been a string of attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria as well as almost daily exchanges of fire across the Israel-Lebanon border between Hizbullah and the Israeli army.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has reportedly formed a joint operations room with the Islamic Republic's regional proxies and representatives of Hamas.

The operations room is said to be engaged in reconnaissance missions to gather data from the field, and in the preparation of plans to manage the movements and activities of armed groups loyal to the Iranian regime in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.