Tel Aviv: Israeli is working in order to get confirmation that Houthi missile specialists have arrived in Syria. According to still unverified reports, approximately 50 Houthi missile specialists are currently in southern Syria. These specialists are believed to focus on ballistic missiles and UAVs.
As per these reports, these Yemeni Houthi specialists have arrived to Syria with the help of the Iranian IRGC via Jordan and initial review of the reports suggest that the purpose of this operation is to carry out drone and missile attacks against Israel from Syrian territory.
The Israel-Alma Research Institute states there is a Houthi presence in Syria but notes they “are unable to confirm” the exact magnitude or operational potential.
This deployment represents Iran’s strategy to open a new front against Israel from Syrian territory, extending the Houthi threat beyond Yemen’s 2,000 km missile range.
The Houthi missile arsenal includes ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, and attack UAVs, with much of it described by analysts as Iranian-supplied or Iranian-derived. Current reporting says Israeli and US strikes have degraded the arsenal significantly, but the group still retains some operational launch capability.
Open-source assessments describe the Houthis as fielding medium and long-range ballistic missiles, land-attack cruise missiles, sea-to-sea missiles, and suicide drones. Reported missile types linked to the Houthis include variants described as Typhoon/Burkan-style ballistic missiles, Quds cruise missiles, and other Iranian-derived systems.
Recent Israeli media reporting says the Houthis have suffered major losses in launchers and now have only a limited number of operational ballistic missile launchers. The same reporting says the group can still fire missiles, but production is limited and some rounds fail to reach their intended targets.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
