Alwaght- If until recently the Palestinian conflict was limited to fighting between the Israeli occupation forces and Hamas in Gaza and also the Hezbollah as a second force on the northern borders with the Israeli regime, over the past few days the battle for Palestine has witnessed serious entry of a third force.
The third actor has joined the anti-occupation fight from the Arabian Peninsula: Ansarullah Movement of Yemen. On Tuesday, the spokesman to the Sana’a-based Yemeni popular forces and army General Yahya Saree said that Yemeni forces are firing missiles and drones at Israeli regime, adding that this week, they attacked Israeli positions at least three times. Saree openly and clearly said that Yemen has started war on the Israeli regime. After Saree, the prime minister of the National Salvation Government in Sana’a held that distance cannot obstacle support to the Palestinians and Ansarullah is fully backing the country’s attacks on Israeli targets.
From Eilat to Dimona within Yemen’s missile range
In addition to the past week attack, Yemeni forces confirmed a missile attack at Port of Eilat in the extreme south of the Israeli regime. To date, Eilat has been far from the war effects in Gaza and on Lebanon border in the north and has enjoyed relative security, but Yemen’s entry into the Gaza war has made the situation of the port city unstable and insecure. Eilat is the center of tourism and the main port for the entry of goods into the Israeli regime. The insecurity of this port will undoubtedly have great economic effects on the Israeli occupation. On the other hand, the Yemeni forces have threatened not only Eilat, but also the Dimona nuclear facilities, and in this case, there will be fear and concern for the security of the Dimona nuclear facilities as the war unfolds. On Tuesday, some sources announced that Yemen’s Ansarullah has threatened to target the Dimona nuclear reactor. These threats will undoubtedly destabilize the nuclear situation of the Israeli regime.
The significance of involvement of a third force
Yemen’s entry to the war as a third force is of a decisive importance to the fate of war.
Yemen’s drone and missile facilities: Yemen’s Ansarullah has advanced missiles and drones. Before Gaza war, it showed its strength by targeting Saudi and even Emirati oil facilities thousands of kilometers away. Ansarullah’s pinpoint missiles are capable of easily striking in the occupied territories. Two months ago, during the special parade of the 9th anniversary of their popular revolution, the Yemenis displayed a lot of weapons and a number of new missiles, surprising many foreign military experts. The surprise of the September parade was the unveiling of Toffan (Storm) ballistic missile that was different from its predecessors in terms of payload and range. It is said that it has a range exceeding 2,000 kilometers and speed of nearly mach 10 at the final stage, something rendering the air defenses like the US’s Patriot ineffective. It is noteworthy that Eilat port’s distance from Yemen is less than 2,000 kilometers, and strategically Yemeni army can easily strike the Israeli regime’s most important economic and tourism port.
Distribution of conflict in three fronts: So far, a major part of the the Palestinian battle has been limited to Gaza and the northern borders with Lebanon. But entry of Yemen as a third force to the war now put the extreme south of the Israeli regime within the targets of Yemeni missiles, something meaning that no point in the occupied territories is immune now. Opening a new front this time in the south ties down a part of the Israeli military focus and capacity to the southern parts, and this will ease the pressure on Gaza front. Also, it is likely that with Yemen involvement, the Israelis will have to review their war strategies and the war result will possibly be different from the Israeli expectations and scenarios.
