Air Force on high alert for resumption of Houthi missile, drone attacks on Israel
Israel checking whether missile from Yemen, which landed in Egypt, was aimed at Israel, as White House says heavy US strikes killed ‘multiple’ Houthi leaders
The Israeli Air Force was on heightened alert Sunday for potential missile and drone attacks by the Houthis in Yemen, as the White House said it targeted the group’s leaders in heavy strikes and vowed to continue to do so.
The level of alert was already raised by the IAF last week, after the Iran-backed group threatened to resume attacks on Israel.
The Houthis halted their attacks on Israel and global shipping routes when a ceasefire took effect in Gaza in January. But the rebel group announced last week that it would resume them until Israel lifted its blockade of aid to the Strip, which it enacted on March 2 after the end of phase 1 of the ceasefire-hostage release deal.
The US launched a major bombing campaign in Yemen on Saturday.
Then, overnight between Saturday and Sunday, a missile was launched from Yemen, which landed in Egypt. The IDF said it is investigating if the missile was aimed at Israel.
The White House said Sunday that US strikes killed “multiple” Houthi leaders in Yemen, adding that Iran was “put on notice” to stop backing the rebel group and its attacks on Red Sea shipping.
The airstrikes on Saturday “actually targeted multiple Houthi leaders and took them out,” National Security Adviser Michael Waltz told ABC News.
“We just hit them with overwhelming force and put Iran on notice that enough is enough,” he said in a separate appearance on Fox News.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday that the US would conduct “unrelenting” strikes against the Houthis until the rebel group ceases its military actions targeting US assets and global shipping.
Speaking on Fox News, Hegseth said the campaign was a response to the scores of attacks the Houthis have launched on ships since November 2023 and served as a warning to Iran to stop backing the group.
“This will continue until you say, ‘We’re done shooting at ships. We’re done shooting at assets,'” Hegseth said.
The Iran-backed rebel group vowed to meet “escalation with escalation” after the wave of US strikes, which killed at least 31 people and wounded 101, “most of whom were children and women,” according to Houthi health ministry spokesperson Anis Al-Asbahi.
Footage on Houthi media showed children and a woman among those being treated in a hospital emergency room, including a dazed girl with blackened legs wrapped in bandages.
One father of two, who gave his name as Ahmed, told AFP his “house shook, the windows shattered, and my family and I were terrified.”
“I’ve been living in Sanaa for 10 years, hearing shelling throughout the war. By God, I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” he said.
Trump, in a post on social media, vowed to “use overwhelming lethal force” to end the Houthi attacks.
“To all Houthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP, AND YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY. IF THEY DON’T, HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!” he said.
Trump also issued a stern warning to the group’s main backer.
“To Iran: Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY!” he said, adding it would be held “fully accountable” for any continued threats.
The Houthis vowed the strikes “will not pass without response,” while Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi condemned the deaths and said Washington had “no authority” to dictate Tehran’s foreign policy.
The Houthis’ political bureau said its “forces are fully prepared to confront escalation with escalation.”
The rebels, who have controlled much of Yemen for more than a decade, are part of the “axis of resistance” of pro-Iran groups staunchly opposed to Israel and the United States. They have launched scores of drone and missile attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the Houthis had “attacked US warships 174 times and commercial vessels 145 times since 2023.”
The campaign put a major strain on the vital route, which normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic, forcing many companies to take a costly detour around southern Africa.
The Iran-backed rebels also fired some 40 ballistic missiles toward Israel from November 2023 until just days before Israel reached the ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas. The Houthis also launched several attack drones at Israel, including one that killed a civilian and wounded several others in Tel Aviv in July 2024. Responding to the attacks, Israel has carried out several waves of strikes on Houthi sites in Yemen.
Hamas, which has praised the Houthi support for its cause, lashed out at the US strikes on Sunday, branding them “a stark violation of international law and an assault on the country’s sovereignty and stability.”
Earlier this month, the Trump administration reclassified the Houthis as a “foreign terrorist organization,” banning any US interaction with it.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
