Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday that Israel would act against the Houthi rebels in Yemen with the same force it used against Iran’s other “terrorist arms,” appearing to indicate the start of a stepped-up campaign against the Islamic Republic’s proxy group, after a ballistic missile crashed into a Tel Aviv playground over the weekend.
At the same time, Israeli reports said that senior defense officials, including the head of the Mossad spy agency, believe the correct move is to attack Iran directly, rather than go for its proxy group in Yemen.
In a video statement issued after a meeting of his security cabinet in the northern Israel town of Safed, Netanyahu stressed that Israel was not alone in operating against the Houthis, pointing to repeated strikes carried out by American and British forces against Houthi targets over the past year.
“The US, and also other countries, like us, see the Houthis as a threat, not only to world shipping, but also to world order.”
“Just as we acted forcefully against the terrorist arms of Iran’s evil axis, so we will act against the Houthis…with force, determination and sophistication,” the premier said.
Netanyahu’s comments came a day after a ballistic missile launched by the Iran-backed group exploded in a playground in south Tel Aviv on Saturday, wounding 16 and causing extensive damage after attempts to intercept it failed.
It was the second time in as many days that a Houthi missile sparked sirens in the country’s center in the middle of the night, after a warhead launched on Thursday was partially intercepted outside Israeli airspace and crashed into an empty school building in the city of Ramat Gan, again causing severe damage but no injuries.
Shortly after the strike in Ramat Gan, the IDF carried out a wave of intense airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. The timing of the operation was coincidental, as it had been planned for weeks and the planes were already in the air when the missile was launched.
Dozens of planes struck Houthi targets along Yemen’s western coast and, for the first time, in the rebel-held capital Sana’a.
Israeli military sources said the strikes were aimed at paralyzing all three ports used by the Iran back group. The targets included fuel and oil depots, two power stations, and eight tugboats used at the Houthi-controlled ports.
Indicating that similar strikes could be in store for the Houthis at a future date, Netanyahu on Sunday promised that even though the operation against the rebel group may take time, the results will be the same as those seen in Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
Seemingly confirming future strikes in Yemen, an Israeli official told the Times of Israel that “Houthis are now the focus” of Israel’s defense establishment.
“There are going to be more attacks,” the official said.
The strikes on Houthi targets over the last year appear to have had a financial impact on the group, as the Turkish state-owned Anadolu news agency recently reported that the Houthi-run Yemeni Transport Ministry and Red Sea Ports Corporation announced that strikes on the port city of Hodeida in Western Yemen since July have caused $313 million in losses.
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