Back and forth strikes between Israel and the Shi’ite Houthi movement in Yemen seem to be growing this past week. On Thursday morning, Israel launched multiple airstrikes against the Houthi-controlled part of northern Yemen, killing at least nine. Overnight Friday, the Houthis responded with a rocket.
The Houthis reported that they had aimed at an unspecified military target in Tel Aviv with a Palestine-2 hypersonic missile. The Israeli military reported that 23 people were lightly injured by shattered glass, and another 14 were injured in trying to flee to the shelters.
Reportedly the missile hit a public park, and alarms were activated across Central Israel, leading millions to flee to shelters. The Israeli military’s air defenses failed to intercept the missile, and officials are saying they intend to launch an investigation to figure out why that was.
Israel has long considered the Houthis to be one of their seven fronts going on at the same time. In practice, Yemen is far enough away from Israel that there have been minimal exchanges for the most part. That might be changing.
The Houthis have held northern Yemen since 2014, and a Saudi-led invasion was launched shortly after to try to unite the country under a different faction. Fighting has been ongoing ever since.
The ongoing Israel war in the Gaza Strip has increased the regional implications of the Houthi presence, as they’ve been attacking Western ships, both civilian and military, passing through the area near their shoreline as part of an effort to try to support the Palestinians. That has led to a number of US and British airstrikes against northern Yemen as well, though so far it has not ended up removing the Houthis from power.
