Israel is signaling a wider campaign against Houthi militants in Yemen, a mountainous and impoverished country more than 1,000 miles from Israeli territory.

Israel has severely weakened Hamas and Hezbollah. Now it's going after another member of Iran's so-called axis of resistance: the Houthi rebels of Yemen.

The Houthis, who have been in a strong position in the civil war in Yemen since 2021, have sought to use the window of opportunity opened by the war in Gaza to expand their regional footprint. They are now the only pole of the ‘axis’ standing,