Houthis fire 2nd ballistic missile at Israel since early morning; none hurt
Iran-backed group’s missile shot down outside Israel’s borders, IDF says; US said to strike Yemen again after telling Israel to let it deal with attacks
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis fired a ballistic missile at Israel Thursday afternoon, in the third such attack since Wednesday and the second since the early morning, having renewed their attacks on the Jewish state as it strikes in the Gaza Strip.
The IDF said the missile was successfully intercepted by air defenses and shot down before crossing Israel’s borders. There were no reports of injuries or damage in the attack, which triggered sirens in Jerusalem and surrounding towns, West Bank settlements, the Dead Sea area, and parts of central Israel.
The attack came shortly after Yemen’s Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah television network reported at least four US strikes on the Al Mina district of the city of Hodeida. The area houses a port and the headquarters of the Houthi naval forces.
Citing an Israeli official, the Ynet news site reported that Washington had asked Israel not to respond to the Houthis’ previous missile attack overnight, which sent millions running to bomb shelters at 4 a.m. in wide swaths of central Israel. According to the report, the US told Israel to “let them deal with it.”
The reported request came as the US has carried out widespread strikes against the Houthis in recent days after the rebels announced they would renew attacks on Red Sea shipping due to the end of the Gaza ceasefire.
The strikes on the Houthis are the largest American military operation in the Middle East since US President Donald Trump took office in January. Trump has said he would hold Iran responsible for the Houthi strikes.
The Houthis began attacking the vital maritime route in November 2023, a month after fellow Iran-backed group Hamas stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
While the Houthis have said they were attacking Israeli-linked shipping in support of Gaza, they have also targeted vessels with no known Israeli connections.
The Houthis — whose slogan is “Death to America, death to Israel, a curse upon the Jews” — halted their attacks after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire and hostage deal in January. The Yemeni rebels pledged to resume attacks after the deal’s 42-day first phase expired on March 2, and Israel, which refused to transition to the second phase, blocked the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
It began launching missiles in response to Israel’s renewed offensive in Gaza since Tuesday.
Agencies contributed to this report.
