War Between Israel and Yemen’s Houthis Intensifies

Emergency responders inspect damage at a school in the city after a rocket strike, allegedly fired from Yemen, on Dec. 19, 2024, in Ramat Gan, Israel. In response, Israel launched attacks on several Houthi military targets in Yemen. Amir Levy/Getty Images

A day after a Houthi ballistic missile struck a playground near Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would continue acting against the Iran-backed terrorist group in Yemen.

“Just as we acted forcefully against the terrorist arms of Iran’s axis of evil, so we will act against the Houthis, with force, determination, and sophistication,” Netanyahu said in a video statement on Dec. 22.

The air war between the Houthis and Israel has ramped up in recent days.

After the Israeli Air Force (IAF) intercepted a Houthi drone before it reached Israeli territory on Dec. 23, Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened the terrorist group with a “decisive blow.”

Early on Dec. 24,  the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) posted that it had just intercepted another missile before it reached Israeli territory. Sirens sounded against the possibility of falling shrapnel.

On Dec. 19, shortly after a partially intercepted Houthi missile struck an empty school in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan, the IAF struck the Yemeni port and energy infrastructure in the capital city of Sana'a, which the Houthis controlled, and the port city of Hodeida.

Israel’s raid, the first targeting the capital, had been long planned, the IDF said, in response to hundreds of missiles and drones launched by Houthis at Israel since the Gaza war began.

The planes were already in the air when the school was struck. The raid killed at least nine people.

The port raids caused “considerable damage,” United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Hodeida port receives much of the food aid sent to Yemen during its decade-long civil war.

The targets included fuel and oil depots, two power stations, and eight tugboats used at the Houthi-controlled ports.

Earlier strikes against Hodeida since July have reportedly done $313 million in losses.

Some Israeli military sources indicate the Houthis are now the IDF’s primary focus. Others in the nation’s military and intelligence apparatus think Israel should now instead strike directly at Iran, which has financed the Houthis along with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria.

Mossad chief David Barnea reportedly recommended the government strike Iranian targets as a response to the Houthis’ continued attacks on Israel.

The Houthis are now the active arm of Iran’s proxy attack on Israel, after the Jewish state has succeeded in neutralizing Hezbollah and Hamas.

Sailors aboard the USS Harry S Truman prepare ordnance for strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Dec. 21, 2024. Courtesy of U.S. Central Command.

Mossad believes Iran wants to continue its war of attrition on Israel through the Houthis.

They pose a significant challenge to Israel because of their distance and Israel’s lack of intelligence sources there.

Houthi missile launchers and drones are well entrenched in mountain terrains difficult to hit.

Houthis have attacked merchant and U.S. Navy vessels in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait between Yemen and Africa, and the Gulf of Aden.

On Dec. 21, the U.S. military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said it conducted precision air strikes against Houthi missile storage and command and control facilities in Sana'a.

Netanyahu noted American engagement against the Houthis.

“The United States, and also other countries, like us, see the Houthis as a threat, not only to world shipping but also to world order,” he said.

On Dec. 22, CENTCOM said an F/A-18 Hornet from the USS Harry S Truman was mistakenly fired on and shot down by a guided missile cruiser, the USS Gettysburg.

Both crew members ejected safely, with one suffering minor injuries, CENTCOM said.

The warships had earlier shot down numerous drones and an anti-ship cruise missile fired by the Houthis over the Red Sea.

A fire rises after airstrikes are carried out by Israeli warplanes targeting oil storage facilities in the port city of Al Hudaydah, Yemen, on July 20, 2024. Houthi Media Center via Getty Images

A ballistic missile the Houthis said in a social media post was hypersonic hit a playground in Jaffa, the ancient port city around which modern Tel Aviv grew, before dawn on Dec. 21. At least two Israeli systems failed to intercept it, the IDF said.

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the IDF spokesman, said the IAF is conducting an “in-depth investigation” into the failure to intercept the missile.

The missile struck just 38 seconds after sirens sounded in the Tel Aviv area. There, residents usually have 90 seconds to get to shelters.

One resident, cut by flying glass, told a reporter she didn’t have time to get to a shelter and instead pulled a heavy blanket over herself that shielded her from glass as her windows shattered.

The Israeli military said 16 people were injured by shattered glass, and another 14 suffered minor injuries as they rushed to shelters when air raid sirens sounded.

The impact site was a playground between residential buildings. The fire department said the blast wave did extensive damage, but no building was hit directly.

A crater several meters deep was left where the missile struck.

The Houthis said in a social media post that the missile had been aimed at a military target they did not identify.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.