Despite a ceasefire in Lebanon and Israeli and US-led Coalition strikes on the Houthis in Yemen, both groups appear undeterred from further attacks.
The situations are different. The Houthis are far away from Israel and use ballistic missiles and drones to threaten Israel. Hezbollah suffered a drubbing in a two month war from September 23 to November 27, but they are saying that at the end of the 60-day ceasefire that began in late November, they could return to fighting.
This illustrates how Israel continues to suffer threats from multiple fronts. On the positive side, it appears the Iraqi militias which are backed by Iran have toned down their threats for now. The Syrian regime has fallen and that means that Iran has trouble basing its forces in Syria. However, Hamas continues to fire rockets at Israel and the West Bank could boil over with threats.
What are the Houthis and Hezbollah saying?
'Day 61 will be different’: Hezbollah warns Israel of truce collapse, is one headline in Iranian media. “The deputy chief of Hezbollah’s Political Council [Mahmoud Komati] has underscored the readiness of the Lebanese resistance movement to respond to the Israeli violations of a 60-day ceasefire, warning that day 61 will be different if the Zionist regime does not withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon,” Iran’s IRNA reports.
This is important. He was speaking to Al-Manar TV, a Hezbollah channel. Mahmoud Komati said "Hezbollah is committed to the ceasefire during the first 60 days mentioned in the text of the truce deal.”
He says that Hezbollah will respond to any Israeli “violations” of the ceasefire. “He also said that Hezbollah will not allow any local or foreign party to tamper with the red lines of the Resistance weaponry and the reconstruction program.” Hezbollah claims it still has a large stockpile of rockets. Israel has assessed that the group lost many of its rockets and thousands of fighters.
Houthis suffered setbacks from recent airstrikes
Meanwhile, in Yemen, the Houthis suffered setbacks from some airstrikes recently. Israel carried out a four rounds of strikes over the past year. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces “conducted multiple precision strikes against Iran-backed Houthi targets in Sanaa and coastal locations within Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen, Dec. 30 and 31,” the US said. “On Dec. 30 and 31, US Navy ships and aircraft targeted a Houthi command and control facility and advanced conventional weapon (ACW) production and storage facilities that included missiles and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV). These facilities were used in Houthi operations, such as attacks against US Navy warships and merchant vessels in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. In addition, US Navy and US Air Force aircraft destroyed a Houthi coastal radar site and seven cruise missiles and one-way attack UAVs over the Red Sea.”
However the Houthis vowed that they would continue to “rain down” missiles on Israel. “A senior member of the political bureau of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement has said that the country’s army will keep pressing ahead with its operations against the Zionist regime in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” IRNA noted. The Houthis also “called on the UN Security Council to condemn American terrorism as well as the terror and crimes committed by the Zionist regime.”