Those days are gone when Israel could change the borders in the region as in the six-day war in 1967. The region has undergone major changes since the 1960s and 1970s.

Most probably, the former and current rulers in Tel Aviv never thought that a rebel group in Yemen called Ansarallah could unnerve Israel.

Even the West could not imagine that Yemen would turn into a highly important player in the region and a big headache for Israel and the West.

The courage shown by Ansarallah in defending the Gazans is highly surprising and worthy of great attention.

Yemeni forces have been bravely targeting Israeli ships and also ships destined for Israel, which according to the UN, has created “hell on the earth” for 2.3 million Gazans since early October.

The bravery shown by Ansarallah is a concrete manifestation of the Arab public’s sense of empathy and responsibility toward the suppressed Palestinian nation.

The Yemeni armed forces announced that they targeted two container ships that were heading to the Israeli entity with two suitable naval missiles.

Yemeni official armed forces spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement on Dec. 15 that the naval forces carried out a military operation against two container ships (MSC Alanya and MSC PALATIUM III).

In the statement read during a march in Sanaa in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza, codenamed “With Gaza until Victory,” Saree confirmed that the targeting of the two ships came after their crews refused to respond to calls from the Yemeni naval forces as well as fiery warning messages.

At the same time, the spokesman insisted on Yemen’s respect for international law, explaining that the Yemeni armed forces reassure all ships heading to all ports around the world, except for Israeli ports.

“Those days are gone”

In the early 20th century Britain and France drew the map of the Middle East. However, drastic changes have taken place since then. Now, not just Israel but also its Western backers are greatly feeling the great pains that the Yemenis are creating for them.

Also, in the 1980s Israeli tanks proudly roamed the streets of Beirut. However, it did not last long that Lebanese Hezbollah forces dealt the first and a great blow to Israel’s army in the summer of 2006 to the extent that it caused a political and military earthquake in Tel Aviv. 

Likewise, the Palestinians who were fighting Israelis with stones are now firing rockets and missiles at Tel Aviv, the heart of the occupied territories, an astounding move that has robbed the Israelis and their rulers of a calm sleep.

This time the Houthis, another name for Ansarallah forces, are posing more serious dangers to Israel and its defenders.

Israel had been boasting about its air superiority in the region as it receives the most sophisticated fighter jets from the United States. The West had also been promoting the claim that Israel had the mightiest army in the West Asia region. Also, its air defense system, called Iron Dome, had been highly inflated.

Yet, the situation is rapidly changing. Israelis are now feeling that they are being surrounded by more groups that can no longer remain passive in the face of Israel’s vicious atrocities against Palestinians, especially its ongoing mad war on the Gaza Strip.

Canada and the U.S. in North America and Europe must have now realized that their spoiled child in West Asia is causing unimaginable headaches for them.

Yemen has clearly announced that it will continue to prevent all ships heading to Israeli ports from navigating in the Arab and Red Seas.

Probably some Western officials were not aware of the geo-strategic position of Yemen and the bravery of its nation. They did not know that one day Yemen would threaten their commercial ties with a thief and criminal regime called Israel.

It has been for more than four decades that the Western countries, chiefly the U.S., have been claiming that they back an independent and sovereign Palestinian state. But these are just empty words. They just express worries about the continuous and ever-increasing stealing of the Palestinian lands in the West Bank. The U.S. is still killing any UN Security Council resolution that shuns Israel’s behavior against the Palestinians.

Actually, the West does nothing to make Israel stop its acts that are in sharp contrast to international law and moral principles, let alone condemn the suffocation of more than the 2.3 million people in the small strip of Gaza. If they were sincere in what they claim they could have penalized Israel through different means. In that case, the October 7 attack on Israel, which the UN chief said “did not happen in a vacuum,” would not have happened.

However, before it is too late Tel Aviv and its Western capitals must realize that if Israel does not stop humiliating, suppressing, and stealing more Palestinian lands they should await shocking nightmares like the one posed by the Yemenis.