Ballistic Missiles
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have openly declared for the first time that their recent missile strikes on Israel were carried out in coordination with Iran, signaling a new and more explicit phase of collaboration between Tehran and its regional allies. The announcement came on Sunday during a televised statement by the Houthis’ military spokesperson, Yehya Sarea.
Sarea stated that the Houthis launched several ballistic missiles targeting central Israel’s coastal city of Jaffa over the previous 24 hours. While the effectiveness of the strikes remains unclear, the announcement of coordination with Iran has added a serious geopolitical dimension to the already volatile Middle East conflict.
“This operation was coordinated with the operations carried out by the Iranian army against the criminal Israeli enemy,” Sarea said, declaring that the attack was in solidarity with both the Palestinian and Iranian people. His comments followed missile sirens sounding across multiple Israeli cities, a response triggered by missile launches from both Yemen and Iran, according to the Israeli military.
The recent exchanges follow a dramatic escalation in hostilities after Israel launched its largest-ever military strike against Iran on Friday. That attack was seen as a direct retaliation for Iran’s previous aggression and has since sparked a flurry of military actions on multiple fronts.
On the same day as the Israeli assault on Iran, a missile reportedly launched from Yemen landed in the city of Hebron, located in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Though Israeli authorities attributed the missile to Yemen, the Houthis did not explicitly take responsibility for that particular strike.
The Houthis have been involved in frequent missile and drone attacks aimed at Israel since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 assault on Israeli territory. Most of the Houthi-launched projectiles have been intercepted, yet their continued attempts are framed by the group as a demonstration of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
While the United States had previously launched a series of strikes to deter Houthi aggression, particularly following attacks on commercial and naval vessels, those operations were paused after President Donald Trump assumed office and secured a halt in Houthi assaults on American assets through diplomatic backchannel efforts.
This latest declaration of joint action between the Houthis and Iran further underscores Tehran’s growing coordination with allied non-state actors in its regional strategy, raising concerns in Tel Aviv and Washington about the widening scope of the conflict.
