Israel Intercepts Houthi Missile and Threatens Militant Group’s Leaders

The Houthi militia group in Yemen fired a missile at Israel on Tuesday, hours after Israel’s defense minister suggested that his government would seek to kill its leadership, highlighting the difficulty Israel faces in confronting the Iran-backed militants as they ramp up their assaults.

Sirens wailed in Tel Aviv and other parts of central Israel early on Tuesday morning, and loud booms could be heard as far away as Jerusalem as the country’s aerial defenses repelled the attack. The Israeli military later said the missile had been successfully intercepted outside of its territory; there were no reports of casualties.

The Houthis, who act as the de facto government in much of northern Yemen, have been firing on Israel in solidarity with their Palestinian allies since shortly after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that prompted the war in Gaza. In a self-declared attempt to enforce an embargo on Israel, they also began launching missiles and drones at cargo vessels crossing the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, significantly disrupting international trade.

“From the Houthis’ perspective, the attacks in the Red Sea have been successful,” said Farea al-Muslimi, a Yemeni research fellow at the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, the London research institution. “Even if there’s no direct harm, they are a big win for them.”

Houthi missiles and drones have managed only to penetrate Israel’s defenses on a few occasions. But experts say their attacks have bolstered the group’s regional clout even as Israel has focused its firepower on weakening other Iran-backed groups, like Hamas and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

The intensifying focus on the Houthis comes as the Israeli military continued a relentless ground and air campaign in northern Gaza while under increased pressure from both the international community and the Israeli public to end the fighting in the enclave.