Israel Plans New Foothold on the Red Sea to Fight the Houthis
 
While the Iran war rages, Israel is quietly planning for a potential base at the mouth of the Red Sea from which to strike one of the Islamic Republic's last proxies still operating at full strength: the Houthis of Yemen.
 
That’s thanks to Somaliland, the breakaway territory on the Gulf of Aden that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government recognized in December — a move that handed Israel its first diplomatic presence across from Yemen. Now, the Jewish state will follow up with a strategic security partnership that may involve Israel building a base – possibly covert – on its pristine coast, despite widespread regional criticism, according to Khadar Hussein Abdi, Somaliland’s minister of the presidency.
 
(...)
 
The breakaway state will allow Israel to gather intelligence on and conduct operations against the Houthis, according to two Somaliland officials who requested anonymity as they’re not authorized to speak publicly. The Yemeni group has struck the Jewish state with long-range weapons and has for years disrupted trade in the Red Sea, one of the world’s most vital shipping corridors.
 
(...)
 
Israel has already begun laying the groundwork for a potential base. Last June, a small group of Israeli security officials arrived in Somaliland to visit its strategic coastline, according to people familiar with the matter.
 
The group spent days surveying the self-declared nation’s beaches, in order to identify a possible site for a base or installation to fight the Houthis, based just 260 kilometers (160 miles) across the Gulf of Aden in Yemen, the people said.  
 
(...)
 
The Houthis — considered a terrorist group by the US — have held their fire since the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, but remain Tehran’s most formidable proxy after Israel crippled both Hamas and Hezbollah. Tensions between the group and Israel escalated in 2023, after the Yemeni militia began bombing both the Red Sea and the Jewish state in retaliation for the war in Gaza.
 
(...)
 
An Israeli general has established a special intelligence unit on the Houthis and said in a background briefing with Bloomberg that they have hundreds of rockets that can reach Israel.
 
“The Israeli relationship with Somaliland matters in large part because the Houthis are expanding along the Horn of Africa,” said Ari Heistein, a research fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security. “If the ongoing US-Israel campaign degrades Iran’s ability to support the movement, the region could become an even more critical strategic arena for them.”
 
The two governments had discussed Israeli recognition for years, according to regional officials. But the deal was sealed quickly late last year because of Israeli intelligence officers, who now view the Houthis as one of Israel’s greatest threats, according to regional diplomats and a senior Israeli military official.
 
Shortly after Israel’s recognition on Dec. 26, more than a dozen senior military officials from Somaliland travelled to Israel for training as part of a push to deepen security ties, according to people familiar with the matter. Israel also rented rooms fitted with blast-proof windows on the top floor of a hotel in Hargeisa, they said, as it scouts a location for an embassy.
 
(...)
 
Israel’s growing presence in Somaliland places the country in direct competition with Turkey, which is the main supporter of the central Somali government. It comes as Israeli officials have increasingly framed Ankara as a key threat to the Jewish state, with former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett recently referring to Turkey as “the new Iran.”
 
“For Israel, recognition of Somaliland offers a security counterweight to Houthi dominance in the Gulf of Aden,” said Conor Vasey, an analyst at the London-based advisory firm J.S. Held. “Specifically, it helps balance rising Turkish influence in Somalia.”
 
Turkey has developed its largest overseas military training base in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, and recently deployed F-16 jets to protect its interests in the country that include a ship exploring for offshore oil and gas. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Israel’s recognition of Somaliland illegal on a December trip to the region.
 
Beyond the Middle East powers jockeying for influence, the Islamist groups Al-Shabaab and Islamic State in Somalia have both threatened to attack Somaliland should Israel use the country for its own interests.
 
(...)

Le Hezbollah a commis une faute majeure en forçant le Liban à l’affrontement avec Israël. Il doit immédiatement mettre fin à ses attaques. De son côté, Israël doit clairement renoncer à une offensive terrestre au Liban», a-t-il affirmé dans une publication sur le réseau social X.

Israël | Au moins 100 roquettes tirées par le Hezbollah sur le Nord. 1 blessé léger. Rappelons que le cessez-le-feu en vigueur était censé désarmer le Hezbollah…

Communiqué consternant signé « Officiers patriotes de l’armée libanaise », où l’on apprend que ces officiers (dont l’institution est soutenue par la France, les Etats-Unis) refusent d’entrer en confrontation avec le Hezbollah « forces nationales qui subissent une agression étrangère », rappellent leur « engagement pour la paix civile » et mettent en garde contre « l’affaiblissement du rôle unificateur de l’institution ».  
Ce collectif a choisi, Al Akhbar, journal du Hezbollah pour publier son communiqué. Beaucoup de questions sur l’entrisme du Hezbollah dans cette institution nationale se posent.

«J’ai averti le président libanais que si son gouvernement ne parvient pas à contrôler le territoire et empêcher le Hezbollah de menacer les communautés du nord et de tirer sur Israël, nous prendrons des territoires et le ferons nous-mêmes», a-t-il ajouté.