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The Iran-backed Houthis (Ansar Allah) deployed fighters from Yemen to Syria to escalate operations against Israel, Sputnik reported on September 13, citing a source informed on the matter.
The unnamed source told the Russian news agency that “a brigade-sized force, made up of several thousand elite Ansar Allah fighters, arrived in Syria in small groups via Jordan, with high-level Syrian-Lebanese intelligence coordination.”
“The Yemeni force that arrived in Syria is considered one of the strongest and most well-prepared and equipped combat formations of Ansar Allah,” the source added.
The force was trained on attacking targets simulating Israeli settlements and military bases over the last few months, according to the source.
Sputnik’s report coincided with another by the Euphrates Eye Network, a Syrian pro-opposition news blog, alleging that four senior military commanders of the Houthis with experience in missile and drones entered Syria coming from Iraq on August 2.
In addition, an alleged local official in southern Syria confirmed to i24NEWS on the same day that Houthi fighters were deployed in the region.
“In recent days, Houthi fighters from Iraq have arrived in southern Syria to open a new front using drones against Israel, where they will be stationed in the Golan Heights near the Israeli border,” the unnamed official told the Israeli news channel, without elaborating.
The Houthis have launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel and attacked dozens of Israel-linked ships since last October in response to the Israeli siege on war on the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip. The United States and United Kingdom have so far launched hundreds of strikes against the Houthis, but failed to deter the group.
Last July, the Houthsi vowed to escalate operations against Israel following an unprecedented Israeli attack on the Yemeni Red Sea port of al-Hodeidah. The attack was a response to a deadly Houthi drone strike on the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.
Israel also escalated its strikes on Syria in the wake of the war in Gaza. However, the country has so far refrained from responding.
While both Syria and the Houthis are considered key members of the Iran-led Axis of Resistance, the relation between the two is not that special. Still, a cooperation between the two could pose a serious threat to Israel and force it to allocate even more resources to its northern front.
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