The Israeli army’s Intelligence Unit 504 has launched an online campaign targeting Yemenis, urging them to cooperate with Tel Aviv against Yemen's Ansarallah (Houthi) movement.
According to multiple media reports, the Israeli intelligence unit has launched a series of paid advertisements in a bid to recruit spies in Yemen. "Yemen has long experienced crisis after crisis. But real change begins with those who refuse to give up. Unit 504 gives you the tools and opportunities to build a different tomorrow," one of the advertisements reads.
"Are you tired of watching Yemen collapse? Are you tired of life without work, security, or a future? If you are willing to do what needs to be done, Unit 504 gives you a chance to put your skills to use, have your actions make a difference, and put your future in your own hands," another advertisement says. "This opportunity will not come again."
The ads are geared mainly toward critics or political opponents of Ansarallah. Al-Akhbar newspaper reveals that “observers in Sanaa are warning that this campaign reflects an Israeli intent to expand intelligence operations in the country and prepare for retaliatory attacks in response to Yemen’s support for Gaza.”
A Yemeni military source told the Lebanese newspaper that “Yemen will not stand idly by in the face of any violations of the Gaza ceasefire agreement and will retaliate in the event of any Israeli aggression against the strip.”
Israel is reportedly gearing up to continue attacks against Yemen – despite Ansarallah and the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) halting operations during the ceasefire, as it had repeatedly vowed it would.
Hebrew news outlet Channel 12 reported that “intense discussions within the security establishment recently led to separating the Yemen front from that of Gaza, allowing military action against Yemen to continue post-ceasefire.” This week, Yemeni President Mahdi al-Mashat said Sanaa will respect the ceasefire, but vowed that the country will remain “vigilant.”
“Work is underway to develop military capabilities in all fields in order to achieve deterrence amid the fierce aggression against Yemen and its security,” he added.
Ansarallah, which is merged with the YAF, was among the first to open a front against Israel at the start of what it has denounced as genocide following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in October 2023.
Since then, the YAF and Ansarallah have carried out scores of successful missile and drone strikes against Israeli targets, and opened up a naval front that has decimated global shipping and Israeli maritime interests over the past two years.
As the result of this front, the southern Israeli port of Eilat was forced shut. Late last month, a Yemeni drone attack injured 20 Israelis in Eilat.
Yemen had vowed repeatedly since the start of the war two years ago that its operations would not stop until the killing of Palestinians ended and the siege was lifted.
The Yemeni front was the last of the Gaza support fronts that were opened in support of the Palestinian resistance. These included Lebanon’s Hezbollah – the first group to open a front against Israel after October 7 – as well as a coalition of Iraqi resistance factions. Despite deadly and destructive Israeli and US strikes on Yemen, Ansarallah and the YAF’s military capabilities remained largely unaffected.
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