US tells Israel: ‘Leave Houthis to us’

The US has reportedly told Israel not to respond to strikes from Yemen’s rebel Houthis, saying the American military has greater capacity to hit back.

The US has reportedly told Israel not to respond to strikes from Yemen’s rebel Houthis, telling Jerusalem: “Leave it to us.”

Israel’s military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen on Thursday (local time) for the second time within a day, after air raid sirens sounded in several areas including Jerusalem.

“Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in a number of areas in Israel, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted by the IAF (air force) prior to crossing into Israeli territory,” the military said in a statement.

But Israeli media reports that the US requested Israel refrain from air strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, saying the American military had greater capacity to conduct sustained attacks using aircraft stationed on its aircraft carriers.

The latest missiles came after the Iran-backed rebels had threatened to escalate attacks in support of Palestinians following Israel’s renewed attacks on the Gaza Strip this week.

Earlier on Thursday, Israel’s military said it intercepted a projectile fired from Gaza while two others fell in an uninhabited area after sirens sounded in central Israel.

Hamas’s armed wing said it had fired rockets at Israel’s commercial hub of Tel Aviv in response to what it called “massacres against civilians” in Gaza.

In the early hours of Thursday, the military said it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen, which the Houthi rebels claimed was a “hypersonic ballistic missile” that had targeted Israel’s main international airport.

The Houthis in a statement also said they had again targeted an US aircraft carrier group in the Red Sea, the latest attack after a series of intense American strikes against the Yemeni rebels.

The Houthis had targeted ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden after the start of the Gaza war on October 7, 2023, claiming solidarity with Palestinians.

They had paused their attacks for the duration of an Israel-Hamas ceasefire that began mid-January, but resumed launching missiles and drones after the United States carried out deadly strikes on Yemen Saturday.

Israel resumed its air campaign in Gaza early Tuesday with a wave of deadly strikes, shattering a relative calm that had pervaded in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory since the ceasefire took hold.

AFP