Yemen’s Houthi rebels fire missile at central Israel

Israel said several attempts were made to down the missile fired by the Iran-backed group but it slipped through its air defences.

Yemen's Houthi rebels. Picture: Getty Images

Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they fired a missile at central Israel on Sunday morning, marking an escalation in the Iran-backed group’s attacks on Israel.

The missile didn’t strike its target, and no casualties were reported.

Israel said several attempts were made to down the missile with air-defence systems but the missile slipped through with only partial damage. At least part of the weapon landed in an uninhabited area in the middle of the country, a military spokeswoman said.

The Houthis have been launching missiles and drones at Israel and targeting Red Sea shipping for months as they seek to support Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which has been engaged in a nearly year-long war in Gaza.

The rebel group’s military spokesman, Yahya Sare’e, said: “The Israeli enemy should expect more strikes and advanced operations in the future.” Israel’s military said the latest Houthi missile “most likely fragmented in midair.” Shrapnel from interceptors fired to down it landed on a central Israel train station, causing minor damage, it said.

The Houthi strikes risk sparking a wider conflict in the region, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to respond. “They should have already known that we extract a heavy price from every attempt to hurt us,” Netanyahu said shortly after the attack.

In July, Israeli jet fighters bombed the Houthi-controlled port city of Hodeidah, Yemen, destroying fuel tanks and damaging a power plant. Israel struck Hodeidah in retaliation for the killing of an Israeli civilian by a Houthi drone strike in Tel Aviv.

Israel said the Hodeidah port is a key route for funnelling Iranian weapons to the Houthis. Tehran denies arming the group in violation of a nearly decadelong United Nations arms embargo against the Houthis, despite ample evidence to the contrary.

Israeli officials said their response was an effort to deter further action by the Houthis, who joined other Iran-backed groups in opening additional fronts against Israel as it fights in Gaza.

Over the course of 11 months, the Houthis have fired hundreds of projectiles at Israel, the Israeli military said. Houthi attacks on shipping have also choked off most access to Israel’s Red Sea port in Eilat.

“If we learned anything from the Saudi military intervention in Yemen, it is that the Houthis are not deterrable by air strikes,” said Nadwa Al-Dawsari, a Yemen expert and nonresident fellow at the Middle East Institute.

Houthi attacks against vessels in the Red Sea have become a serious challenge for global shippers, disrupting a key route, damaging ships and causing a number of fatalities.

A U.S.-led multinational coalition has taken the lead in countering the Houthi threat.

The Wall Street Journal