Today’s drone strike saw the first Israeli civilian killed in a direct drone or rocket attack against the country since October 7. After three decades of hostility with its Arab neighbours, which deteriorated four times into regional wars, from the 1970s onwards, Israel has increasingly been at peace with Arab states. That looks to change.
Today the Houthi movement, a Shia Islamist faction in the ongoing Yemeni civil war, successfully hit Tel Aviv, Israel’s capital and largest city, in a drone strike. The attack, described by an IDF spokesman as “targeted to kill civilians”, has so far been confirmed to have killed one and injured at least 10.
This is not the first time the Houthis have tried to hit Israel.
Over the last couple of months, Houthi forces have claimed to have hit Eilat, a city with Israel’s main port on the Red Sea. Previously Houthi controlled territory in Yemen was used by Iran to strike Israel in April.
If Israeli authorities are correct that the attempt of these strikes are to inflict civilian casualties, a claim which isn’t entirely at odds with previous Houthi actions, they have been shockingly ineffective. Today marks the first civilian to be killed in a Houthi attack, or any attack on Israel’s territory by a foreign state since October 7.
This is despite the Houthis having considered themselves to be in a state of war with Israel since October 18.
Today, attacks on Israeli civilians have come primarily from non-state actors in the Palestinian territories, such as Hamas whose attack on October 7 was responsible for the deaths of a confirmed 769 civilians, 373 Israeli security personnel, and a further 251 persons were taken hostage.
It should be remembered, however, that for the first decades of its existence, virtually all countries in the middle east were incredibly hostile to the nation.
How the Situation Arose
Following the breakdown of mandatory Palestine in 1947, seven Arab states, drawn to support the Palestinians under the ideology of Arab nationalism declared war on Israel in May of 1948.
Israel and its surrounding Arab States would be in a state of de-jure war until the late 1970s, when under Sadat, Egypt would lead the steady normalization of ties among pro-American Arab states, with even anti-American states not pursuing the outright destruction of Israel beyond rhetoric.
Following the dawn of the 20th century, this trend has begun to reverse. With the outbreak of the Syrian Civil war, Ba’athist government forces increasingly engaged in skirmishes against the Golan Heights, an area occupied by Israel during the 1967 war.
While Israeli relations with the Axis and Palestinian groups became more tense, Israeli relations further normalized with nations skeptical of Iran’s influence; such as Bharain, Morocco and the UAE recognizing the country in 2020.
Worsening Relations
With the Iron dome protecting the country from direct threats since 2011, Israeli academic Yoav Fromer has argued that the Netenyahu government has no incentive to cool relations with hostile states.
Likewise, hardline anti-Zionist organisations and states have little incentive to moderate their stance on Israel. With a majority of Gazans viewing Hamas as corrupt and with Yahya Sinwar being increasingly hardline in his governance of the strip, Hamas was increasingly unpopular with the Palestinian people. However, following the October 7 attack and Israel’s devastating invasion of Gaza, Gazans have rallied in favour of Hamas.
Similar popularity improvements have occurred to the Houthis, Hezbollah and the Iranian government, all of whom define their existence to some degree through opposition to Israel. It is no surprise that tensions are getting worse between these groups, as it is in none of their interests to de-escalate tensions.
Even Arab states opposed to Iran and their proxies who had previously sought closer relations with Israel have now tried to emphasise their opposition to the country.
Final Thought
Today’s events underscore the fact that the ‘Axis of Resistance’ are not only willing but able to directly attack Israel. Israel’s continuing campaign in Gaza is likely to continue to exasperate regional tensions and increase the growth of terrorist organisations.
Military tensions between Israel and its neighbours have increased to a degree not seen since 1971. Unlike 1971, however, Israel is surrounded by a large number of states that do recognize its existence which stand in strong opposition to those states which don’t.
With 38,798 Palestinian reported killed according to the Gazan health ministry, a large proportion of which are civilians, international opinion is rapidly souring on Israel.
In rejecting attempts for a ceasefire, the Netanyahu government is increasingly isolating itself even from the region’s Saudi-led coalition of anti-Iranian states.
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This article was written by Chamber’s features writer – Alex Connor.