The Israeli Defense Forces announced around 06:00 (GMT) that they had detected a missile launch from Yemen against the territory of the State of Israel for the first time in a month of war in the Middle East, hours after pro-Tehran Houthi rebels threatened again yesterday to engage in armed conflict alongside Iran.
In a terse statement, the Israel Defense Forces said it had detected “the launch of a missile from Yemen against the territory of the State of Israel,” adding that “anti-aircraft defense systems are operating to intercept the threat” before releasing residents from shelters about fifteen minutes later.
The Houthis are allies of Tehran, part of what Iran calls the “axis of resistance”, as are Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and Shiite armed factions in Iraq.
“We are ready for direct military intervention in case of a new alliance with the US and Israel against Iran, conducting offensive operations against Iran or any Muslim country from the Red Sea and in case of continued escalation against the Islamic Republic,” Yahya Saria, Houthi spokesman for military affairs, said yesterday.
The rebel movement, which controls most of northern Yemen, had launched dozens of attacks against Israel and merchant ships in the Red Sea during the war between the Israeli armed forces and Hamas in the Gaza Strip from 2023 to 2025.
Houthi missile and drone attacks had paralysed international navigation in this strategic sea route, now used mainly by Saudi Arabia to export its oil while avoiding the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed since the US-Israeli war against it was launched in late February.
