The Iranian-backed Houthis say that they have carried out 13 attacks on Israel over the last 10 days. The claims were repeated by Iran’s state media. This indicates how the Houthis are carrying out their attacks in order to show off their capabilities to the Iranian regime.
The IRNA report said that according to “sources, the group said in a statement that these attacks were in line with support for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and in response to the regime's aggression against Yemen.”
The report went on to note that the spokesperson for the group “was cited by media as saying that most of these operations targeted the Tel Aviv region in central Israel.” The Houthis have launched numerous missile attacks on Israel over the last two weeks.
Houthis escalated attacks
This is one of the first indications of how the Houthis view their escalation. It is clear they have escalated attacks in December, with ballistic missiles launched every tow days at Israel during the last two weeks of December. The report says the “attacks were carried out from December 19 to 29.
On Saturday, Ansarullah also targeted the Navatim Air Base in southern Israel, in the Negev region, with a ‘Palestine 2’ type hypersonic ballistic missile, which the resistance group said was successful.” This is important because it indicates what the targets of the Houthi attacks have been.
The Iranian report also claimed the Houthis have targeted Ben-Gurion International airport. They took credit for preventing flights temporarily to the airport. The Houthis “said the attack was in response to Israeli airstrikes on Sana'a and Hudaydah in the past few days. Yemeni armed forces have threatened to expand their range of targets in Israel and to respond with countermeasures to any escalation by Tel Aviv.”
This is an important indication of how the Houthis are attempting to replace other Iranian-backed proxies as the main front against Israel. At the same time this week, Iran’s president has called for closer ties with Oman.
Oman is a neighbor of Yemen. “Pezeshkian hailed the longstanding friendly relationship between Iran and Oman and emphasized that further development of bilateral ties is of paramount importance to Iran,” Iran’s state media said. Iran’s leader also said he supports regional peace.