The IDF said on Saturday that a missile launched from Yemen toward Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted.”
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack, adding that it fired a missile towards Beersheba.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at ships in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
A day before the Houthis’ most recent missile strike, Yemen’s Information Minister, Moammar al-Eryani, accused Iran of attempting to relocate parts of its military industry to territory controlled by the Islamic Republic-backed terror group, which he said would endanger global shipping routes in the Gulf of Aden.
Eryani said that Tehran’s plan includes the production of ballistic missiles and drones in the northern governorates of Sa’da and Hajjah, as well as areas surrounding Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.
Yemen's Houthis to be a perennial problem for US
“International complacency in the face of these measures will cost the region and the world dearly, and give Iran the opportunity to consolidate a dangerous reality by turning Yemen into a workshop for developing its prohibited programs and an advanced missile base for the IRGC,” he said.
Last Tuesday, US Air Force Lt.-Gen. Alexus Grynkewich told lawmakers that the Houthi terrorist organization will likely be a persistent problem for the United States in the future.
He made this statement even after Washington and the Houthis reached an agreement last month that ended a US air campaign against the group.
A ceasefire deal between the Houthis and the US does not include sparing Israel, the terror group said last month.
On Friday, thousands of Houthi supporters in Sanaa demonstrated in solidarity with Palestinians.
Maariv Online and Reuters contributed to this report.