Israel Strikes Yemen: A Dangerous New Front in the Middle East

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Airstrikes near Sana’a’s Presidential Palace signal Israel’s willingness to expand conflict beyond Gaza and Lebanon, dragging Yemen into the Israel–Iran proxy struggle.

By TRH Global Affairs Desk

NEW DELHI, September 10, 2025 — The sound of explosions echoed across Yemen’s capital late Wednesday as Israeli warplanes struck multiple sites, including areas near the Presidential Palace in Ansarullah-controlled Sana’a. The strikes, which Houthi media described as targeting government buildings, a health facility, and military complexes, left several killed and wounded, marking one of the boldest escalations yet in the region’s tangled wars.

Israeli media outlets framed the assault as retaliation for Houthi-launched drones and missiles, including an attempted strike on Israel’s Ramon Airport and, more dramatically, the reported interception of a cluster-warhead missile fired toward Jerusalem. For Israel, hitting Sana’a was not just reprisal — it was a statement: no actor, no capital, is too far if it poses a threat.

Yet, this is more than a tactical operation. It’s the opening of a dangerous new front. For years, Yemen’s Houthis — backed by Iran — have been locked in their own brutal war with Saudi Arabia and its allies. By directly striking Yemen’s seat of power, Israel risks transforming Sana’a into the latest node in the sprawling Israel–Iran proxy conflict.

Commentator Mario Nawfal in a post on X called it “a dramatic escalation” and warned it could ignite instability across the Red Sea and Arabian Peninsula, already on edge with US assets scattered across Gulf states. Al Jazeera reported Yemen’s air defences engaging Israeli jets, while Reuters confirmed casualties from strikes that extended beyond Sana’a into al-Jawf province.

The timing is no accident. Just a day after assassinating Hamas operatives in Qatar, Israel widened its bombing campaign to Yemen, while continuing airstrikes in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, and Lebanon. This blitzkrieg-style regional offensive signals Israel’s intent to impose deterrence not just on Hamas and Hezbollah but on any Iranian ally capable of threatening its cities.

But escalation comes at a steep price. Yemen is not Gaza. It is a fragile state, scarred by a decade of civil war and famine. A full-blown Israeli front in Yemen risks unraveling Gulf security, jeopardizing shipping lanes in the Red Sea, and setting fire to an already unstable Middle East.

In the words of one Sana’a resident, “multiple loud explosions were heard very near to the area where I’m living.” For civilians, the question is no longer about deterrence or geopolitics. It is about survival.

Israel may believe it is pushing the war outward, but the shockwaves from Sana’a could ripple inward — destabilizing not just Yemen, but the very balance of the region.

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