Israel strikes Yemen for the first time following deadly Houthi drone attack. Here’s what we know

CNN
—

first time, Israel attacks in YemenHouthi rebels have launched deadly drone attacks on Tel Aviv.

Since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, the Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea in a show of solidarity with Gaza. After Israel retaliated on Saturday, the Houthis launched new missile attacks on Israel and vowed to launch a “massive and brilliant” counterattack.

Direct attacks by Israeli forces and Iran-backed rebels on each other’s territory risk creating a new front in a conflict that is already threatening to spill over into the region, with Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam describing the situation on Sunday as an “open war.”

Here’s what we know:

Who are the Houthis and what is their role in the Gaza conflict?

The Houthis Iran-backed Islamist groups Based in Yemen.

The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah (Supporters of God), are one side in Yemen’s nearly decade-long civil war. They emerged in the 1990s when leader Hussein al-Houthi launched the “Believing Youth” religious revivalism of Zaydi sect, a centuries-old sect of Shiite Islam.

Since the ceasefire, the Houthis have consolidated their control over much of northern Yemen and are also calling for a deal. Saudi ArabiaHe wants to work with Saudi Arabia, Iran’s biggest rival, to end the war for good and cement his role as Iran’s ruler.

The Houthis, believed to have received weapons and training from Iran, claim that since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and subsequent Israeli ground and air attacks in the Gaza Strip, they have sought to retaliate against Israeli military operations by targeting ships in the Red Sea.

The US and Britain responded to these attacks by carrying out strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen, but Israel did not join in those responses.

Additionally, an Israeli military spokesman said the militant group targeted “Israeli civilians and civilian infrastructure” around 200 times during the same period. Most of these launches were intercepted by US Central Command, but Israel’s air defense forces also intercepted Houthi drones and missiles in and around Israeli airspace, the spokesman said.

The turning point for Israel appeared to come on Friday, when a drone attack in Tel Aviv killed one Israeli citizen and injured several others.

The attack was claimed by the Houthis, with spokesman Yahya Saree saying it was carried out with a new type of drone capable of “bypassing enemy interception systems.”

“We will continue our strikes on these targets in retaliation for the enemy’s massacres and daily crimes against our brothers in the Gaza Strip,” Saree said. “Our operations will only be halted when the aggression stops and the blockade against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is lifted.”

The attack, the first such drone attack on Israel’s commercial capital Tel Aviv, was claimed by the Houthis, and Israeli authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding the deadly drone attack and potential security flaws.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari said the military suspects the drone was an Iranian-made Samad-3 type launched from Yemen and modified to increase its range.

He said a second drone was intercepted outside Israeli airspace to the east at the same time as the attack, adding that Israel was now strengthening its air defences and stepping up aerial patrols of the border.

The Israeli response came the following day, when Israeli aircraft attacked the Yemeni port of Hodeidah.

Yemeni officials said the attack, the first Israeli attack on Yemen, killed at least six people and wounded dozens. The Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV said the attack targeted oil facilities at a port on Yemen’s western coast.

Houthis Spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam said the strikes also hit civilian facilities and a power station. He condemned Israel’s “brutal aggression” aimed at increasing “the suffering of the Yemeni people” and pressuring the group to stop aiding Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the port was being used by Iran to bring weapons into Yemen.

“The port we attacked was not an innocent port; it was being used for military purposes and as an entry point for lethal weapons supplied by Iran to the Houthis,” he said in a statement on Saturday.

Netanyahu also said the operation, which struck targets 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) from the Israeli border, showed Israel was taking the threat seriously.

“We have made it clear to our enemies that there is no place that the long arm of the State of Israel does not reach,” Netanyahu said.

Neither side has indicated they are prepared to withdraw. “Deduction with Israel is not in the Houthis’ DNA,” said Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute. I wrote to X.

Houthi military spokesman Yehya Salih said the Houthis were “preparing for a long war” with Israel and that Tel Aviv remained unsafe. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that “there is a price to pay for the blood of the Israeli people” and that if Israelis are attacked “the results will be the same as we have seen in Lebanon and Gaza.”

The Israeli military said on Sunday it had intercepted a missile approaching Israeli territory from Yemen, while the Houthis said they had fired “numerous ballistic missiles.”

The war in Gaza has already significantly increased tensions between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which has been engaged in a cross-border gun battle since October 8, when Hezbollah opened fire on three Israeli border crossings in a show of “solidarity” with the Palestinians.

Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said in a televised address on the Houthi-run Al-Masira TV on Sunday that his group intended to continue the “fifth phase of de-escalation in support of Gaza.”

He also said Friday’s drone attack on Tel Aviv marked the beginning of that phase.

But while rising tensions with the Houthis will certainly create new challenges for Israel, Hezbollah remains the bigger threat given its extensive weaponry and proximity to Israel.

Yoel Guzansky, a senior fellow at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), which sits on Israel’s National Security Council, told CNN he believes Israel has restrained its response so far.

He believes Israel is trying to send a signal to the United States and the international community that “enough is enough” and has deliberately chosen high-profile targets.

“We need to let bad actors who attack us know that they will have to pay a price, and I believe that’s exactly what Israel has attempted to do.”

Like the Houthis, Hezbollah receives strong backing from Iran, which has made no secret of its hostility toward Israel.

Any increase in hostilities between Israel and Iranian proxies is seen as seriously destabilizing the region, as it could bring the two countries closer to open war.

Israel and Iran have already conducted one direct transaction since October 7. Few in the international community want to see such a deal again.