At the onset of the war, Hezam al-Assad, a member of the political bureau of the Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Ansar Allah saw he was gaining online attention when he tweeted in Hebrew, attacking Israel. A look at his account on X (formerly Twitter), which boasts over 105,000 followers, might give the impression that al-Assad is fluent in Hebrew. Every few posts, he tweets in Hebrew, targeting an Israeli audience, many of whom follow him as a joke and respond cynically to his frequent threats.
Al-Assad shares videos of pro-Gaza demonstrations held every Friday in Sanaa, cartoons against Israel and the U.S., footage from Houthi military exercises, and clips from speeches by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.
He occasionally posts songs by bands affiliated with the Houthis, the latest being "The Time for Response Has Come," a song promising retaliation against Israel for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, senior Hezbollah figure Fuad Shukr, and the Israeli bombing of Hodeidah Port in Yemen.
Earlier this month, he warned in an interview that Israel would face a "decisive and strong response" at a time determined by Yemen's Houthi leader. He emphasized that the Houthis were coordinated with the "Axis of Jihad and Resistance," which includes the Palestinians, Iran, and its proxies in various countries.
In another recent interview, al-Assad said that the assassinations of Haniyeh and Shukr had not altered the Houthis' plans for retaliation against Israel, which would come in due time. Among his recent Hebrew tweets were threats like, "Have they come out of hiding? If so, the time for reaping has come..."; "And the promise is near" (errors in the original); and "They should worry, wait, and hold their breath." Al-Assad also showed an awareness of Israeli domestic politics, his latest tweets addressing topics such as the draft of ultra-Orthodox men into the military and the recent arrests of reserve soldiers suspected of sexually assaulting a Hamas prisoner
One of al-Assad's first tweets to gain attention in Israel was in October 2023, when he tweeted the word "Eilat"—though in Arabic—shortly after IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced an expansion of operations in Gaza. The tweet was widely interpreted as a threat of an attack on Eilat and received considerable attention. Since then, the Houthis have repeatedly made good on such threats, and al-Assad, recognizing the power of social media, has tweeted the word "Eilat" on multiple occasions.
Israelis on X have not remained indifferent to al-Assad's Hebrew tweets, often mocking them. In one of his recent threats, he wrote in Hebrew: "Is Intel still manufacturing chips in Kiryat Gat with 12,000 employees?" One user replied, "Yes. You're using one of them, thank you for your contribution to Israel's economy."
In early August, right after the assassinations of Haniyeh and Shukr, al-Assad posted a series of eight Hebrew tweets filled with threats, such as "You have no choice but to leave the land of Palestine" and "Blazing fire." One Israeli user responded, "Is there a non-blazing fire?"