The Houthis launched missiles against Israel for the first time since the start of the war this Saturday (28). The attack marks the entry of the rebels, Iran’s allies in Yemen, into the conflict.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces, with the help of Almighty Allah and trusting in Allah, carried out the first military operation using a barrage of ballistic missiles against sensitive Israeli military targets,” the group said in a statement.
The Houthis’ statement said the operation was a direct response to “the continuation of military escalation, the attack on infrastructure and the practice of crimes and massacres against our brothers in Lebanon, Iran, Iraq and Palestine.”
The group confirmed the attack after Israel intercepted missiles fired from Yemen. The Houthis have stated that they will continue military operations until the “aggression” on all fronts ends and the group’s entry could expand and prolong the conflict.
Os Houthis had said in Friday they were if other countries joined the United States and Israel in their war against Iran, or if the Red Sea was used to launch attacks against the Islamic Republic.
The group has demonstrated the ability to strike targets far beyond Yemen and , as it did in support of Hamas during the war in Gaza.
If the Houthis open a new front in the conflict, an obvious target would be the Bab al-Mandab Strait off the coast of Yemen, a strategic point that controls shipping traffic towards the Suez Canal after Iran effectively closed the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
*Com Reuters
