The Houthis of Yemen have joined the Israel-Hamas conflict, which is raging more than 1,000 miles from their capital city of Sanaa. On October 31, they declared that they had launched missiles and drones at Israel, highlighting the conflict's regional risks.

Here are a few specifics about the team.

The history

A religious revival movement for the Zaydi sect of Shi'ite Islam, which had once ruled Yemen but whose northern heartland had become impoverished and marginalized, was established in the late 1990s by the Houthi family in far north Yemen.


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They engaged in several guerilla battles with the national army and a brief border skirmish with Saudi Arabia, a prominent Sunni power, as tensions with the government increased.

YEMEN'S WAR

Following the Houthis' capture of Sanaa in late 2014, the war broke out.

Saudi Arabia came to the aid of the Saudi-backed government in March 2015, leading a coalition backed by the West, out of concern for the growing influence of Shi'ite Iran along its border.


Aden became the home base of the internationally recognized government, while the Houthis took control of much of the north and other major population centers.

Amid a U.N.-led peace initiative, Yemen has experienced more than a year of relative peace. To try and get out of the war, Saudi Arabia has been in talks with the Houthis.

On the other hand, Saudi Arabia now faces more significant conflict risks as a result of the Houthi attacks on Israel.