CAIRO/PARIS: Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis launched missiles at Israel on Saturday, their first such attack since the Iran war began.
The Houthis said their operations would continue until the “aggression” on all fronts ended. Israel said it had intercepted a missile from Yemen.
The war, launched with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands and causing the biggest disruption ever to energy supplies, hitting the global economy and fueling inflation fears.
Houthis can strike targets far from Yemen
The Houthis had said on Friday they were prepared to act if what the group called an escalation against Iran and the “Axis of Resistance” continued in the war.
The group has shown an ability to strike targets far beyond Yemen and disrupt shipping lanes around the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea, as they did in support of Hamas in Gaza after October 7, 2023.
If the Houthis open a new front in the conflict, one obvious target would be the Bab Al-Mandab Strait off the coast of Yemen, a key shipping choke point that controls sea traffic toward the Suez Canal, after Iran effectively shut the critical Strait of Hormuz.
