Houthis confirm first attack since Iran war as Israel identifies missile launch from Yemen

alarabiya – Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis confirmed on Saturday that they had launched an attack on Israel for the first time during the current Israeli-US war against Iran, marking their entry to the conflict and raising the prospects of a broader regional confrontation.

The group said the attack with a barrage of missiles came after continued targeting of infrastructure in Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinian territories, adding that their operations would continue until the “aggression” on all fronts ends.

The Israeli military said early on Saturday it had identified a launch of a missile from Yemen, the first time a missile has launched from Yemen since the war erupted.

The launch comes hours after Iran-aligned Houthis said on Friday they were prepared to act if what the group called an escalation against Iran and the “axis of resistance” continued but did not say what form any intervention would take.

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The Houthis entry to the war raises the prospects of a broader regional confrontation, particularly given the Houthis’ ability to strike targets far beyond Yemen and disrupt shipping lanes around the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea, which they had done in support of Hamas in Gaza after October 7, 2023.

Iran’s allies in Lebanon and Iraq have already joined the war in the region triggered by US and Israeli strikes on Tehran four weeks ago.

With Agencies