JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday warned Yemen’s Houthis of retaliation after the militia claimed a missile attack on central Israel.
“This morning, the Houthis launched a surface-to-surface missile from Yemen into our territory. They should have known by now that we charge a heavy price for any attempt to harm us,” Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting, according to a statement from his office.
“Those who need a reminder in this matter are invited to visit the port of Hodeida,” he added, referring to Yemen’s Red Sea city that Israeli warplanes bombed in July after the Houthis claimed a drone strike that killed a civilian in Tel Aviv.
The Houthis are among the Iran-backed groups in the Middle East that have been drawn into the conflict triggered by Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel.
On Israel’s northern flank, Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement has traded regular cross-border fire with Israeli forces in exchanges that threaten to spiral into all-out war.
On Sunday morning about 40 projectiles were fired from Lebanon toward Israel’s Upper Galilee region and the annexed Golan Heights, Israel’s military said.
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border, and Netanyahu said on Sunday that the current situation was not sustainable.
“The existing situation will not continue. We will do everything necessary to return our residents safely to their homes,” he said.
“We are in a multi-arena campaign against Iran’s evil axis that strives to destroy us.”
He described speaking with residents and authorities in the north, saying, “I hear the distress, I hear the cries.
“The status quo will not continue. This requires a change in the balance of power on our northern border.”
Israel PM warns Houthis of ‘heavy price’ after missile attack
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Israel PM warns Houthis of ‘heavy price’ after missile attack
- The Houthis are among the Iran-backed groups in the Middle East that have been drawn into the conflict triggered by Hamas’s October 7 attack
Arab and Islamic states reject Israel’s recognition of Somaliland
- Israel formally recognized Somaliland as an “independent and sovereign state” on Friday
- Saudi Arabia on Friday expressed full support for sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity of Somalia
A group of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries, alongside the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), have firmly rejected Israel’s announcement of its recognition of the Somaliland region within Somalia.
In a joint statement issued on Saturday, the ministers condemned Israel’s decision, announced on December 26, warning that the move carries “serious repercussions for peace and security in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region” and undermines international peace and security, the Jordan News Agency reported.
The statement described the recognition as an unprecedented and flagrant violation of international law and the charter of the United Nations, which uphold the principles of state sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, JNA added.
Israel formally recognized Somaliland as an “independent and sovereign state” and signed an agreement to establish diplomatic ties, as the region’s leader hailed its first-ever official recognition.
The ministers reaffirmed their full support for the sovereignty of Somalia, rejecting any measures that would undermine its unity or territorial integrity.
They warned that recognizing the independence of parts of states sets a dangerous precedent and poses a direct threat to international peace and security.
The statement also reiterated categorical opposition to any attempt to link the move with plans to displace the Palestinian people outside their land, stressing that such proposals are rejected “in form and substance.”
Alongside the Jordanian foreign ministry, the joint statement was issued by the foreign ministers of Egypt, Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, The Gambia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Maldives, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, Turkiye and Yemen, as well as the OIC.
Saudi Arabia on Friday expressed full support for the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Somalia, and expressed its rejection of the declaration of mutual recognition between Israel and Somaliland.
