Israel’s military carried out its latest round of airstrikes in Yemen in areas controlled by the Houthis on Thursday as it turned its attention to another Iranian proxy.
Israeli Air Force fighter jets conducted strikes on the Houthis infrastructure at Sana’a International Airport, the Hezyaz and Gas Kanatib power stations, and other military infrastructure in the Al Hudaydah, Salif, and Ras Kanatib ports on the west coast part of the country.
This was Israel’s fourth such aerial assault on the Houthis and the second one this month. A day earlier, the Houthis fired a ballistic missile that the Israeli military intercepted, which marked the fourth in less than a week, according to the Times of Israel.
“The Houthis will also learn what Hamas, Hezbollah, the Assad regime, and others have learned, and this will also take time,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech on Wednesday. “This lesson will be learned across the Middle East, I tell you, in those days at this season.”
Last week, Israel carried out strikes on the Houthis’ ports, which a local television channel tied to the Houthis said killed nine people.
The Houthis have also conducted dozens of attacks on shipping vessels transiting the waterways off Yemen’s coasts, pushing shipping companies to avoid the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Houthi officials have said these attacks were in solidarity with Palestinians, though its attacks have affected ships completely unrelated to Israel or the United States.
They have also periodically fired missiles and drones at Israel, a handful of which were not intercepted by Israeli air defense systems and caused casualties.
Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz believe that strikes in Yemen may get them to stop its attacks, while Mossad leader David Barnea believes Israel should attack Iran to get the Houthi attacks to cease, according to Israeli news outlet YNet.
The U.S. and U.K. have also conducted airstrikes against the Houthis, though the strikes did not get the Houthis to stop its attacks on commercial shipping vessels.
Israel has taken on Iran’s Axis of Resistance in various ways over the last year after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack that left roughly 1,200 people, and another 250 of whom were kidnapped and brought into Gaza. Over the last year, Israel has decimated Hamas and Hezbollah’s senior leadership and arsenal, the latter of which has already agreed to a ceasefire deal, while it has also demonstrated its ability to hit targets inside of Iran as well.
Israeli forces have invaded both Gaza and Lebanon in its wars against Hamas and Lebanon, which have resulted in the displacement of millions of people and the killing of tens of thousands of people, civilians and combatants. Israel’s military killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah earlier this fall.
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Iran also supported the Assad regime in Syria, which collapsed earlier this month. Israel has since carried out airstrikes in Syria to ensure Assad’s weapons or infrastructure don’t fall into the wrong hands.
Iran also supports militias in Iraq, though they have infrequently attacked Israel over the last year, rather they have carried out about 200 attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
