According to Israeli officials cited by The Times of Israel, an airstrike conducted late last week in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a was aimed at Muhammad Abd al-Karim al-Ghamari, the Chief of Staff of the Houthi military. The Israeli military has not confirmed the outcome of the operation, but officials claim the strike coincided with a gathering of senior Houthi leaders.
The strike marks a rare direct Israeli action on Yemeni soil and is part of what appears to be a broader campaign to degrade the capabilities of Iran-aligned groups throughout the region. Israeli sources indicated that the operation was linked to ongoing hostilities in Gaza and recent Houthi attempts to launch drone and missile attacks against Israel.
U.S.: Houthis Are Not Going Away
The Israeli strike comes just days after a senior U.S. military official testified before Congress that the Houthi movement remains a “persistent problem” for American interests in the Middle East.
“We will likely be dealing with them again,” said Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, Director for Operations of the U.S. Joint Staff, during a June 24 briefing, as reported by Reuters. Grynkewich noted that although U.S. airstrikes earlier this year—under Operation Poseidon Archer—had significantly reduced the group’s ability to conduct attacks, the Houthis retained enough capability to remain a strategic threat.
The group had launched dozens of missile and drone strikes on commercial vessels in the Red Sea earlier this year, drawing a forceful U.S. response. While a de facto truce appears to be holding for now, American officials remain skeptical about the group’s intentions and ability to rearm with Iranian assistance.
Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement will likely be a ‘persistent problem’ for the United States in the future, a senior US military official said, even after the US and the Houthis reached an agreement last month https://t.co/vzyVEe7ktz pic.twitter.com/2aanJnPLT1
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 24, 2025
UN: Famine Looms for Millions
As geopolitical tensions mount, the humanitarian situation in Yemen continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate.
In a June 28 statement, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that famine-like conditions could emerge “within weeks” if urgent assistance is not delivered. According to the agency, nearly half of Yemen’s population—over 18 million people—is experiencing acute food insecurity, with 3.5 million children at risk of malnutrition.
“Funding shortfalls are leaving vital aid operations on the brink of collapse,” said David Gressly, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen. So far, less than 15% of the $2.7 billion requested for the 2025 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan has been received.
The UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system has flagged several governorates in the country’s south and west as being at risk of falling into full-blown famine by the end of the summer.
A Crossroads for Yemen
Yemen remains a battleground for multiple overlapping conflicts: a protracted civil war, a regional power struggle between Iran and the Gulf States, and now increasingly the target of Israeli counterterrorism efforts.
Analysts warn that unless diplomatic channels are urgently reactivated, the combined weight of foreign interventions and domestic collapse could push Yemen into an irreversible humanitarian catastrophe.
“There is no purely military solution to the Houthi challenge,” Lt. Gen. Grynkewich said in his remarks to Congress. “The region’s stability depends on combining pressure with diplomacy—and addressing the desperate needs of the Yemeni people.”
For now, those needs continue to grow, as aid agencies, diplomats, and military strategists brace for what could become one of the world’s most complex crises in the second half of 2025.