The story: While most regional governments have condemned the recent attacks on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by Yemen’s Ansarullah movement—better known as the Houthis—some Palestinians have commended them. As Amwaj.media has reported, other regional allies of the Islamic Republic have notably welcomed the Houthi strikes, such as in Iraq. This comes as Iran itself attempts the balancing act of not condemning the attacks on the UAE while calling for peace talks to end the war in Yemen.

The coverage: Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahia Sarei on Jan. 24 announced that a second wave of attacks on targets in the UAE had been launched over “the escalation of US-Saudi-Emirati aggression and its crimes against our people.”

• Sarei noted that the Al-Dhafra base near Abu Dhabi—which houses Emirati, French and US military personnel—was targeted by “ballistic missiles.” Two missiles were reportedly shot down by UAE-based air defenses.

Prior to the latest Houthi attack, Mahmoud Al-Zahar—co-founder of the Palestinian Hamas movement—offered his support for the Yemeni group.

• Zahar described the Houthi drone and missiles strikes against Saudi Arabia and the UAE as “legitimate and [amounting to] self-defense.”
  
  
• The Hamas politburo member notably also drew links between Israel and some Gulf states, saying, “There is a similarity between the aggression against Yemen and the aggression of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinians.”

Meanwhile, several Iran-backed Palestinian groups have held rallies in Gaza to denounce the Saudi-led coalition’s war against the Houthis.

• Palestinian Islamic Jihad organized a rally on Jan. 22 to reject the coalition’s campaign in Yemen. Some demonstrators raised images of Houthi leader Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi and the late commander of Iran’s Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani.

While Zahar expressed support for the Houthis, Hamas—which is close to Iran—has chosen to quickly disavow any backing for the Yemeni group. The rival Palestinian Fatah movement also denounced any support for the Houthis, likely to thwart reprisals from Gulf states.

• Hamas distanced itself from Zahar’s remarks, stating, “In response to the statements made in the past days, and chants launched in Palestine against Arab and Gulf countries…[these developments] do not reflect the movement’s well-known and established policies of non-interference in the internal affairs of states.”
  
  
• The Jeddah-based Okaz daily later compared Zahar’s comments to the “slanderous” statements of Lebanon’s former information minister George Kordahi. The Lebanese official recently had to step down after an extensive row over his criticism of the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen.

The anti-coalition sentiments apparent among several Iran-backed Palestinian factions have drawn the ire of Emirati and Saudi academics and commentators.

• Prominent Emirati professor Abdulkhaleq Abdulla criticized the Jan. 22 march in Gaza organized by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. He charged that the protest was “led by Iranian mercenaries…in support of the aggression of the terrorist Houthis against the Arab Gulf states. These people are…enemies of the Palestinians’ just cause.”
  
  
• The Saudi nationalist Twitter account Ibn Khaldoun castigated Gazans who took part in the Jan. 22 rally, comparing them to Palestinians who rallied in support of late Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait. He added that the Gaza march “follows from a long history of Palestinian leaders and organizations that have taken shameful positions that insults everyone who genuinely supported the Palestinian cause.”

The context/analysis: The more aggressive Houthi approach to the Saudi-led coalition is partly driven by recent advances by Yemeni allies of the UAE. Most Emirati forces withdrew from the war-torn country in 2019. However, the UAE-backed Giants Brigade has in past weeks driven Houthi forces out of the oil-rich Shabwa Governorate.

Importantly, Palestinian groups have voiced strong displeasure with the 2020 Abraham Accords. The agreements saw Bahrain and the UAE normalize relations with Israel.

• While many Palestinians may not subscribe to the viewpoints of the Iran-backed factions in Gaza, the anti-coalition marches did give Palestinians an opportunity to publicly denounce parties to the Abraham Accords.
  
  
• Many Palestinians view the signing of the Abraham Accords as an “act of betrayal” against their cause. Of further note, the Palestinian Authority could not effectively lobby the Arab League to condemn the normalization agreements with Israel.

The Houthis have previously offered to exchange Saudi prisoners-of-war for Palestinians held in Saudi jails. Hamas later showed its appreciation for the gesture, referring to the Yemeni group’s “solidarity with the Palestinian people.”

The future: Despite receiving support from some Palestinian factions, it seems unlikely that the Houthis will garner much international backing. On the other hand, there are increasing speculations that Israel could become a future target of Houthi strikes.

• Israel has already made clear that it fears a potential attack on its southern port city of Eilat. While the Houthis may possess such capabilities, they are not likely to be deployed against Israel—at least in the absence of a major escalation in the war in Yemen.