Abdulmalik al Houthi, the leader of the Iran-backed terror group that rules northern Yemen, indicated cautious acceptance of the ceasefire that Israel and Hamas agreed to on October 8. Additionally, the Houthis announced the death of their military chief of staff, named his replacement, and released information on the operations conducted during the war following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel.
On October 16, Abdulmalik asserted that the Houthis “continued presence and permanent readiness for support operations in case the Israeli enemy returns to its aggression.” The Yemeni terrorist group is indicating that it will cease attacks while also framing the ceasefire as an opportunity to prepare for a future conflict.
On October 9, Abdulmalik al Houthi delivered a speech in which he extolled the “Palestinian resistance,” celebrated the two-year anniversary of the October 7 terror attack, and praised the Houthis’ support for Hamas. Regarding the ceasefire, he said, “The agreement proves the failure of the Israeli enemy, and the failure of its American supporter, to achieve those goals they wanted to decide in this round.” By unachieved goals, Abdulmalik is referencing the objective of “the elimination of Hamas’s military and governance capabilities,” as identified by the Israeli government.
Abdulmalik repeatedly claimed that the conflict with Israel is a perpetual, multi-round fight. “That is why we are always concerned, even if a ceasefire is achieved, with preparing, preparing for the rounds that will inevitably come,” he said. “We work tirelessly day and night to develop military capabilities and confront all the enemy’s new developments and modernizations in its technologies and military capabilities.”
The president of the Houthi-controlled government, Mahdi al Mashat, said that the Houthis are “continuing to closely and diligently monitor the developments in the implementation phase of the agreement to end the aggression on the Gaza Strip and allow the entry of humanitarian aid. […] We will be ready to respond to any development.” As in previous ceasefires, the Iran-backed Yemeni proxy group is insisting that it will keep its weapons quiet so long as the Houthis consider Israel to be in compliance with the ceasefire in Gaza.
Houthis announce death of military chief of staff
On October 16, the Houthis announced the death of their military chief of staff, Mohammad al Ghamari, but offered no details other than that his death was during his “jihadist work.” Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz attributed his death to the “strike on the firstborns,” referring to Israeli airstrikes on August 28 that killed 12 officials in the Houthi-controlled government.
Ghamari held the Houthis’ most senior military position since 2016 and was a leading strategist for the Iran-backed terror organization. The US Treasury sanctioned Ghamari in 2021 under an authority intended to target individuals “threatening the peace, security, or stability of Yemen.”
“As the senior Houthi military official, Muhammad Abd Al-Karim al Ghamari is directly responsible for attacks on infrastructure that have harmed civilians and now oversees an offensive in Marib that compounds human suffering,” Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control Andrea M. Gacki stated in a press release announcing the Treasury designation.
Immediately after announcing the death of Ghamari, the Houthis named Yusuf al Madani their new military chief of staff. Madani is a long-time Houthi commander who participated in key military campaigns and received training in Iran from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Madani served as the commander of the Fifth Military Region Command, which includes governorates along the Red Sea coast—crucial territory for the Houthis to launch their campaign of terror in the Red Sea. Madani is a brother-in-law of Houthi leader Abdulmalik.
Madani was sanctioned in 2021 along with Ghamari; however, Madani was listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) because “he poses a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States,” according to the US Treasury Department.
Two years of Houthi attacks
The Houthi military, which the group refers to as the Yemeni Armed Forces, released summary statistics of its operations against Israel, commercial shipping, and American naval forces over the past two years. According to Saba Net, the official news agency for the Houthi-controlled government, “The total number of operations carried out by the Yemeni Armed Forces, thanks to God and his help, amounted to (758) operations, carried out by (1,835) between ballistic, winged and hypersonic missiles, drones and warships.”
The statement went on to say that the Houthi navy carried out “(346) operations in the theater of operations extending from the Red Sea, Bab al Mandab, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean, in which more than (228) ships were targeted.” In March, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Houthis had conducted 174 attacks on US Navy vessels and 145 attacks on commercial ships. Since May 6, there has been a ceasefire in place between the Houthis and the United States that was intended to secure commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea. The Houthis have repeatedly violated this agreement by attacking and even sinking ships in subsequent months.
Finally, the Houthi statement claimed, “Our air defenses were able, during the Battle of Al Aqsa Flood, to shoot down (22) American MQ-9 reconnaissance aircraft and launch (40) operations to confront enemy aircraft of various formations, including strategic bombers with more than (57) missiles.” American officials have confirmed the loss of MQ-9 Reaper drones in Yemen but have contested Houthi claims about the exact number. The group failed to hit American or Israeli fighter jets operating over and around Yemen.
