The Houthis misjudged what they stood to gain by targeting King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. Killing civilians in the hope of forcing an adversary to retreat confuses the ability to cause harm with the ability to impose terms. With the airport attacks leaving 17 people dead and more than 330 injured, according to figures released by the coalition, a return to containing the militia while leaving it capable of launching further attacks has become increasingly untenable.
In my view, the decisive shift since 10 October lies in the objective of the confrontation itself: the priority must move beyond responding to individual attacks to stripping the Houthis of their ability to carry out further strikes. Saudi Arabia cannot accept a reality in which an armed terrorist militia holds the safety of its citizens in its hands.
This recklessness in Riyadh cannot be viewed in isolation from the Houthis' military engagements in Yemen, particularly in Taiz in recent days, where they have deployed fighters and reinforcements but faced stiff resistance and suffered losses without securing a decisive victory. When the Houthis suffer setbacks on a front they consider vital, they seek to shift the cost of those losses onto their adversaries elsewhere, mistakenly believing that attacks on civilians will force their opponents to ease the pressure.
However, targeting civilians in Riyadh will neither offset the losses they are suffering in fighters and positions nor persuade anyone to accept their continued possession of the weapons they use to commit crimes. Such actions only compound the political costs of their military adventurism. Each attempt to evade the consequences of their actions through further attacks only reinforces the case for a firmer response.
