During the National Day holiday in 2025, the situation in the Middle East ushered in a turning point-the two-year Palestinian-Israeli conflict was suspended, and Hamas and Israel reached a comprehensive ceasefire agreement. As people in Gaza beat gongs and drums all night to celebrate the day of getting rid of bombs and hiding, this ceasefire pushed another resistance force to the center of the storm: the Houthi armed forces in Yemen.
As the only force in the "arc of resistance" that is still hardening Israel, Hamas's compromise instantly plunged the Houthis into the dilemma of "lone brave". Its next choice is not only related to its own survival, but also affects the geopolitical game in the Middle East. new trends.
Judging from the content of the agreement, Hamas 'concessions can be called a "strategic compromise." As the former de facto ruler of the Gaza Strip, Hamas not only needs to completely surrender control and withdraw from post-war governance, but also needs to accept Israel's dominant rhythm of "phased withdrawal"-although the Israeli army has shrunk from controlling 85% of Gaza's area to 53%, it still firmly controls strategic strongholds such as the Core Corridor and southern Rafah.
For Hamas, a compromise is an absolute helpless move: two years of siege and aggression have threatened its end, continued resistance is not only likely to suffer "unity", but more likely to drag Gaza into a deeper humanitarian catastrophe.
The "lonely courage" of the Houthi armed forces carries some unexpected determination. Unlike Hamas, Houthi has no direct territorial dispute with Israel, and the two places are separated from Saudi Arabia, so they could have "protected themselves."
But since the escalation of the conflict in Israel, the Houthis resolutely carried the flag of resistance: from attacking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden Israeli-affiliated merchant ships, to launching missiles against Israel's mainland, becoming the strongest force in the "Arc of Resistance".
In contrast, the more powerful Hezbollah in the region has long had a ceasefire with Israel, only occasional symbolic launches of a small number of rockets "brush-in-sense", Houthi's insistence is more remarkable and is therefore referred to by netizens as the "true gentlemen" of the Middle East. but now Hamas ceasefire, Houthi's resistance has lost "allied response", from "collective action" to "solitary struggle", military and public opinion pressure steep.
In fact, before the Gaza ceasefire agreement was reached, Israel had begun to intensify its attacks on Yemen: on August 28, 1925, an Israeli airstrike on Yemen’s capital Sanaa directly resulted in the death of the head of the Houthi armed administration, Ahmed Rahavi, the highest-level member of the Houthi losses in the conflict.
Israeli Defense Minister Katz's statement sent a strong signal: "This is just the beginning. The Israeli army will carry out an unprecedented and devastating blow to the senior security and political leaders of Houthi." For Israel, after the ceasefire in Gaza, the Netanyahu government needed new "enemies" to divert domestic attention and stabilize its rule, and Houthi, who insisted on resisting, happened to become the most suitable target.
The current Houthis are at a crossroads of “hard retreat.” Continuing to struggle means being able to withstand Israel’s full strike alone – the Israeli army will no longer need to divide its troops in Gaza, but will be able to deploy more air force and precision-guided weapons toward Yemen, and the Houthis are likely to repeat Hamas’s “bombing out of food.”
If Israel chooses to retreat and announce a ceasefire, the outcome is not necessarily optimistic: Israel will not necessarily accept a force that has "attacked its country repeatedly" easily "retreat", but may instead expand the strike in the name of "remove the threat" and completely weaken the Houthi power.
Despite the difficult situation, the Houthis are still seeking “buffer space”: Hamas has announced a suspension of all attacks against Israel after the ceasefire, while stressing that “the ceasefire agreement will be monitored and implemented if Israel breaches the agreement, the strikes will resume.”
This statement not only retains the "bottom line of resistance", but also buys itself breathing time, and even tries to temporarily return the initiative of "whether to escalate the conflict" to Israel. But in the long run, the fate of the Houthis ultimately depends on the comparison of strength and external games-if Arab countries or the international community fail to provide effective support, it will be difficult to compete with Israel's military superiority for a long time by themselves.
The carnival in Gaza and the plight of Houthi are the epitome of the chaos in the Middle East: peace often comes with the price of compromise, while resistance risks loneliness. For Houthi, every next step is like walking on thin ice, but its courage to persist still retains a trace of "struggle" for the turbulent Middle East. As for whether we can finally break through the dilemma, we need not only strategic wisdom, but also wait for the subtle turning point in the geographical pattern.