In one of his final acts as secretary of state, Mike Pompeo designated Ansar Allah, better known as the Houthis—an Iran-backed Yemeni guerrilla group—as a terrorist organization, thus imposing sanctions. Jonathan Spyer explains why:

The Yemeni interior consists largely of sand and rock. But the country abuts a strategic choke point of global importance. This is the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea, . . . a vital route for oil and natural-gas shipments passing from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea and on to the Suez Canal. Around 9 percent of total global petroleum products pass through the strait. Had the Houthis captured the area in 2015, they would have given their patron—Iran—the ability to choke off the Strait at will, and thus to hold the world economy ransom. The Saudis and their allies, [who have intervened to prop up the government the Houthis want to overthrow], failed to reconquer the entirety of Yemen from the pro-Iranian forces. But they did protect Bab el-Mandeb. Similarly, the intervention prevented the main port of Yemen, al-Hudayda, from falling under the complete control of the Houthis.

The result is that Yemen, like a number of other Arab countries, is now subject to de-facto division and ongoing conflict.

Iran uses the territory in Yemen controlled by the Houthis for the launching of missiles on Saudi Arabia. The Houthis also provide a convenient, ostensibly independent address, at which Teheran can “park” acts for which it prefers not to claim responsibility. For example, the Houthis claimed responsibility for the very significant, extensive and sophisticated attack on Saudi oil facilities . . . in September 2019. The attack involved the use of drones and cruise missiles, and was far beyond capabilities that the Houthis could have mustered independently.

From Yemen, Iran and its allies can also fire rockets at Israel.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.