Nawaf Obeid, a senior research fellow and security and intelligence analyst at King's College London, stated that despite recent airstrikes, the Saudi-led coalition's "real ground war has not yet begun." Obeid broke down the possible phases of the military operation. The first phase aims primarily to strike the forces and energy supply vehicles supporting the Houthi operations, including tanks, armored vehicles, and trucks. The second phase will focus on containing the Houthi's systematic expansion of their sphere of influence in the region, which is crucial. The third phase will explore how to gradually recapture the land occupied by the Houthis since the outbreak of the war. He indicated that this "multi-front, phased" operational plan will deploy additionally trained troops, particularly skilled in mountain warfare, as the Houthis have positioned their battlefields in complex mountainous terrain.
