Israel sees the Houthi militia as part of the Iranian “axis of evil”. Iran, in turn, is warning its Jewish arch-enemy of a regional war following the attack in Yemen.
After the Israeli airstrike in Yemen in response to a deadly drone attack by the pro-Iranian Houthi militia in Tel Aviv, fears of a conflagration are growing. Iran and Israel issued warnings to each other. Israel’s “dangerous adventurism” could trigger a regional war, said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani, according to the state news agency Irna. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of a defensive fight against Iran’s “terror axis”.
“Now is the time for the international community to maximize sanctions against Iran,” demanded Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Platform X. Iran supports, trains and finances the Houthis as “part of its regional network of terrorist organizations that want to attack Israel.” Israel and its supporters such as the USA would be “directly responsible” for “unpredictable and dangerous consequences” of the Gaza war and attacks on Yemen, warned the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman.
According to military sources, Israel’s missile defense system intercepted a surface-to-surface missile that was approaching Israel from Yemen early in the morning. A missile alert had previously been sounded in the area of the southern Israeli port city of Eilat, it said. However, the missile did not penetrate Israeli territory. There were no reports of casualties.
Guterres concerned about risk of escalation
UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his “deep concern about the risk of further escalation in the region”. He called for “utmost restraint”. Israel’s military had previously said it had attacked military targets belonging to the Houthi militia in the port of Hudaida. As the Houthi-affiliated television station Al-Masirah reported overnight, citing the health authority, there were at least three deaths and 87 injuries.
Pictures showed huge fires. Houthi spokesmen confirmed an Israeli attack on “civilian facilities” in Yemen. The targets were oil and electricity facilities. “From the beginning of the war, I made it clear that Israel would take action against anyone who attacked us,” said Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. On Friday, a combat drone from Yemen struck the center of Tel Aviv, killing one man and injuring at least eight other people.
Netanyahu also threatens Iran: We reach enemies everywhere
The counterattack in Yemen “makes it clear to our enemies that there is no place that Israel’s long arm will not reach,” said Netanyahu. It was the answer “to hundreds of attacks on Israel in recent months,” said the Israeli army. Weapons from Iran entered the country via the port of Hudaida, said Netanyahu. Like Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, the Houthi militia in Yemen is an integral part of the Iranian “axis of evil.”
Since the beginning of the Gaza war following the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, the decades-old conflict between Israel and Iran has escalated dramatically. Israel finds itself under fire on several fronts following attacks by militias allied with Iran. Since the Iranian revolution of 1979, Israel and the USA have been considered the country’s arch enemies. Netanyahu has also called Iran the “most important enemy” in the past.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, meanwhile, spoke with his Israeli counterpart Joav Galant about Israel’s response to the drone attack by the Houthi militia in Tel Aviv, a Pentagon spokesman said overnight. Israel’s strike followed months of Houthi attacks against the State of Israel. Austin reiterated “the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security and Israel’s right to self-defense.”
New demonstrations in Israel against Netanyahu
Meanwhile, thousands of people in Israel demonstrated again against Netanyahu’s government and for an immediate agreement in the Gaza war to release the hostages. Shortly before Netanyahu’s departure for the USA, demonstrators in Jerusalem held up banners reading: “No flight without an agreement,” as the “Times of Israel” reported in the evening. On Wednesday, Israel’s head of government plans to give a speech to both houses of the US Congress on Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip.
At one of the weekly rallies, one of the participants, whose own grandson was kidnapped in the October 7 terror attack by Hamas and other groups in Gaza and was recently declared dead by the military, according to the newspaper, said: “Only an end to the war will bring the hostages home.” An end to the war will “also mean an end to the government,” he added. “So you can all understand why this war has lasted so long and why there is still no hostage agreement.”
Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas have been going on for months, with Egypt, Qatar and the USA mediating. They revolve around a three-stage plan that envisages the exchange of the approximately 120 hostages still held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, as well as ways to achieve a permanent ceasefire. Participants in the indirect talks recently expressed cautious optimism. However, no further high-level meetings have been announced at present.
Huthi: Prepare for a long war
Meanwhile, the military spokesman for the Houthi militia in Yemen, Jahja Sari, said they were preparing for a “long war” with Israel. The militia has been attacking merchant ships in the region for months that allegedly have links to Israel. According to its own statements, it is acting out of solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza war. It has also attacked targets in Israel. Most of the missiles were repelled. Iran finances, arms and directs the Houthi’s terrorist activities, said Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari.
The long-range drone aimed at Tel Aviv by the militia was loaded with explosives and hit a residential building in the center of the Israeli coastal metropolis on Friday. Israel’s Defense Minister Galant then announced retaliation. In the counterattack on the Yemeni port of Hudaida, the air force attacked targets that are also used for terrorist activities, including energy infrastructure, Hagari said. Israel carried out the air strike alone and did not involve allies such as the USA.
A civil war has been raging in Yemen for years. There is also a serious humanitarian crisis in which around 80 percent of the population is dependent on some form of aid. According to UN figures, around 70 percent of all imports and 80 percent of all humanitarian aid come into the country via the strategically important port of Hudaida on the Red Sea.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
