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. "