CEP Non-Resident Fellow Ari Heistein writes: "Recent reports from the U.S. intelligence community and other sources indicate that Houthi activity along the Horn of Africa is increasing. The northeastern tip of the African continent has long been a hub for trafficking and piracy, but emerging Houthi-al-Shabaab cooperation presents a growing threat to regional stability. This partnership highlights the risk of Sanaa’s collaboration with criminal and terrorist organizations beyond Yemen and, over time, could serve as a model for future Houthi activities abroad."

CEP Non-resident Fellow: "For more than three decades, Oman has served in the role of mediator for the resolution of disputes in Yemen. This began after north and south Yemen unified in the early 1990s, and then Yemen and Oman officially demarcated the contested border between the two countries. Today, however, there is good reason to question whether Oman is in fact a neutral arbiter and whether its current role in the Yemeni arena promotes regional stability."

CEP Non-Resident Fellow Ari Heistein writes: "Some analysts have suggested that assassinating Abdul-Malik al-Houthi would lead to organizational collapse and thereby eliminate the threat. It is common practice, to the point of being cliché, for analysts to make a very generic but concrete policy prescription that boils down to “kill the guy in charge and all your problems with the group are solved.” But the reality is that the Houthi movement has become institutionalized, which makes it more organizationally resilient, and it has not been significantly disrupted by high-level assassinations in the past. So, while eliminating the Houthi leader would be a welcome development, it is unlikely in and of itself to provide a comprehensive solution to the threats posed by the group."

"Yet according to a June 2024 report from the Counter-Extremism Project, the situation remained as bad as ever: “The regime oversees and controls every aspect of humanitarian work in their territory: determining beneficiary lists, providing permits for any movements of aid organizations’ personnel, and deciding which local entities are eligible to serve as contractors, local implementation partners, or third-party monitors for humanitarian projects.”"

"Ari Heistein, an Israel-based researcher with the Counter Extremism Project, said Houthi military leaders risk losing relevance in running their regime if they disconnect from electronic communications for prolonged periods."

CEP non-resident fellow Ari Heistein writes: "Yemen’s Houthis may be on a high from their success in keeping Israelis awake at night with their sporadic missile launches targeting the country’s center of gravity. Dealing with this threat will present considerable dilemmas and challenges to Israel. However, Israeli journalists’ defeatism is overwrought; in fact, less than one year and a half after their grand entrance onto the international stage, the Houthis strategic options are looking considerably worse than they were in October 2023. "

“With the fall of the Assad regime in Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon defeated and increasingly isolated, attention turns to the Houthis in Yemen. Perhaps the strongest remaining Iranian proxy force in the region, the Houthis are certainly the most active in terms of their attacks on Israel and also on international shipping in the Red Sea… Ari Heistein is an advisor to Israeli startups seeking to sell to the U.S. federal government, a consultant on issues relating to Yemen, and a nonresident fellow at the Counter Extremism Project.”

CEP Senior Advisor Edmund Fitton-Brown was interviewed on BBC News World Service's Newsday, discussed the Houthis in Yemen and a new report from CEP that discusses the group's security and intelligence service, as well as its humanitarian aid diversion. 

"The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) on Thursday published a report delving into the unique brutality of the Yemen Houthi intelligence services.

The report, which The Jerusalem Post exclusively obtaining a copy of the report prior to its publication, names some of the top Yemen Houthis intelligence officials which could also lead to new sanctions against some of those individuals."