A Thousand U.S. Airstrikes, No Results… and Sanaa Expands the Battlefield
NYN | Reports and Analyses
The escalation of maritime operations by Sanaa’s forces against vessels linked to “Israel” is repositioning them as a key player in the heart of the regional equation, according to a detailed report by the British newspaper Daily Mail, which described the recent attacks as a “strategic shift” that exposes the fragility of the Western system in safeguarding its interests in international waterways.
The newspaper highlighted Sanaa’s use of a diverse arsenal, including guided missiles and both aerial and naval explosive drones, confirming that these capabilities have rendered U.S. and Israeli airstrikes ineffective in curbing the attacks. The military campaigns, it noted, have failed to stem the tide of escalating operations.
Military experts quoted in the report stated that Washington and Tel Aviv are facing a dual intelligence and operational failure, as Sanaa’s capabilities continue to grow and expand, despite repeated claims by former U.S. President Donald Trump that he “could have easily wiped out the Houthis (Ansar Allah).”
The report revealed that over 2,000 U.S. munitions have been dropped on approximately 1,000 targets inside Yemen, yet they have not succeeded in halting the attacks or reducing the risk they pose to commercial vessels. These ships, according to the newspaper, lack advanced air defense systems and typically rely on limited onboard security teams that are incapable of countering complex drone and precision missile assaults.
The Daily Mail added that Sanaa’s forces have accumulated significant maritime expertise, employing advanced techniques to guide drones and now demonstrating the ability to bypass onboard security teams—usually made up of no more than three personnel—leaving ships virtually exposed.
The newspaper described these developments as a repositioning within the “Axis of Resistance,” with Sanaa’s forces advancing from being the perceived underdog to a central actor disrupting the calculations of Washington and Tel Aviv. It argued that the Red Sea has now become a more impactful arena of confrontation than other fronts such as Lebanon or Gaza.
The report concluded that the crumbling of the American deterrence model and the expansion of the conflict into critical maritime chokepoints are reigniting questions about the effectiveness of Western influence in the Middle East and are forcing an unprecedented reevaluation of U.S. control over international waterways.
