Israel mulls attack on Iran, Ayatollah ali Khamenei denies Houthis are a proxy

Senior Israeli defence officials are reportedly pushing for a direct strike on Iran rather than only the Houthis as the Ayatollah ali Khamenei appears to try to distance Tehran from the Yemen rebel group.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu members of the Israeli army at Mount Hermon in the annexed Golan Heights. Picture: AFP.

Senior Israeli officials are reportedly pushing for a direct strike on Iran rather than only on its proxy in Yemen, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to escalate attacks against the Houthis, saying they “threaten world order.”

After the Yemen rebel group fired a missile at Tel Aviv, injuring 16 people, Mr Netanyahu said Israel would target what he described as the last remaining arm of “Iran’s axis of evil” with “force, determination and sophistication”.

The Houthis struck Israel’s commercial hub in a pre-dawn attack on Saturday with what they claimed was a ballistic missile, forcing many to leave their homes.

“As we acted with force against the terrorist arms of Iran’s axis of evil, so we will act against the Houthis … with force, determination and sophistication,” Mr Netanyahu said in a video statement.

At the same time, Israel’s Channel 12 TV reported that almost all the senior officials in Israel’s defence establishment believe the Israeli Defence Forces should attack “inside Iranian territory.”

Israel has assessed that the Houthis decided to escalate missile and other attacks without warning Iran in a move that has angered Tehran, Channel 12 reported.

In an apparent attempt to distance Iran from the Houthis, Ayatollah ali Khamenei said on Monday morning (AEDT) that Iran “does not have and does not need” a proxy in the region.

“Iran does not have a proxy force. Yemen fights because it has faith. Hezbollah fights because the power of faith draws it into the field. Hamas and (the Islamic) Jihad fight because their beliefs compel them to do so. They do not act as our proxy,” the Ayatollah told a group of visitors in Tehran, according to Iranian media.

In its report, which it said was passed by Israel’s military censors, Channel 12 reported that Iranian officials are holding frantic consultations to decide what to do in the event of an Israeli strike.

Saturday’s Houthi strike on Tel Aviv was the second such attack on Israel by the Houthis last week, and one of several since the war in Gaza broke out.

כפי שפעלנו בעוצמה נגד זרועות הטרור של ציר הרשע של איראן, כך נפעל נגד החות'ים - התוצאה תהיה אותה תוצאה pic.twitter.com/SyIV4WuYlk

— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) December 22, 2024

Mr Netanyahu’s latest comments came after the United States said it struck targets in Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sanaa on Saturday, hours after the Huthis hit Tel Aviv.

Among the targets was a Houthi missile storage centre and a “command-and-control facility,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

US forces also shot down multiple Huthi drones and an anti-ship cruise missile over the Red Sea, it said.

However, two US Navy pilots were shot down over the Red Sea early Sunday in “an apparent case of friendly fire,” the US military said.

The Houthis later claimed they had “targeted” the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman a day earlier in an operation that led to “shooting down an F-18 aircraft”.

US and British forces have repeatedly struck rebel targets in Yemen in response to Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which are vital to global trade.

Israel has also previously struck the Houthis in Yemen, including hitting ports and energy facilities, after rebel attacks against its territory.

The latest Israeli strike against the Houthis was on Thursday, with Israeli warplanes striking Sana’a for the first time.

The Israeli response came soon after the rebels fired a missile that damaged an Israeli school.

On Sunday, Mr Netanyahu acknowledged Washington’s backing, saying that Israel was “not alone” in its fight against the rebel group.

“The US, as well as other countries, see the Houthis as a threat not only to international shipping – but to the international order”, Mr Netanyahu said in his video statement.

In a similar statement issued earlier this week, Mr Netanyahu said the Huthis would “pay a very heavy price” for their attacks on Israel.

“After Hamas, Hezbollah and the (Bashar al-) Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis are almost the last arm of Iran’s axis of evil,” he said.

“They are finding out, and will find out, the hard way that whoever harms Israel – will pay a very heavy price.”

As well as Hamas, Israel has fought Iran-backed groups across the region since the start of the war in Gaza, including the Huthis in Yemen and a full-blown war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Those campaigns have killed several leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, including the mastermind of the October 7 attack, Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, as well as Iranian commanders.

Israel also assassinated Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, while Sinwar’s predecessor Ismail Haniyeh was killed in a brazen attack in Tehran, which Iran and Hamas have blamed on Israel.

AFP