The Israeli Air Force coordinated with the United States to strike the Houthis in Yemen on Monday night after the terror group fired a ballistic missile at Israel’s largest airport on Sunday.
During the strike, about 20 Israeli Air Force fighter jets dropped 50 munitions on dozens of Houthi targets, according to the Israeli Defense Forces. The attack is Israel’s sixth airstrike on the Houthis since July 2024, in response to more than 400 attacks by the Iranian-backed group during the war, the Jerusalem Post reported. It is the first Israeli strike on the Houthis since President Donald Trump took office.
The United States has been conducting weeks of airstrikes on the Houthis in response to the group’s more than 100 attacks on international cargo ships, tankers, and naval vessels following Hamas’ October 7 assault on Israel. Since March, over 800 Houthi targets have been hit, resulting in the elimination of hundreds of fighters and leaders, and Houthi ballistic missile launches and suicide drone attacks are down 69% and 55% respectively, Fox News reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu oversaw the strike from Israel’s Air Force command center during the attack on the Houthi terrorists on Yemen’s coastline.
HOW TRUMP AND RUBIO PUT AMERICA FIRST IN 100 DAYS
The IDF said the strike was in response to repeated Houthi drone and missile attacks on Israel and its civilians. On Sunday, a Houthi missile landed near Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport, injuring six people and halting flights. The IDF said the missile was not intercepted due to a technical malfunction, noting that their systems typically maintain a 95% success rate against missiles launched from Yemen.
Following the attack, the Houthis pledged to “impose a comprehensive air blockade” on Israel by targeting its airports.
The counterstrike included attacks on terrorist infrastructure in the Hudaydah Port, which is used “for the transfer of Iranian weapons, military equipment, and other equipment intended for terrorist purposes,” according to the IDF.
TRUMP TO WORLD: STOP BUYING IRANIAN OIL — OR ELSE
“Over the past year and a half, the Houthi terrorist regime has been operating under Iranian direction and funding, in order to target the State of Israel and its allies, undermine regional stability, and disrupt global freedom of navigation,” the IDF said. “The IDF is determined to continue operating, at any distance, against all threats posed to the citizens of the State of Israel.”
The United States has also held Iran responsible for Houthi aggression. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warned last week that Iran would “pay the consequence” for providing “lethal support” to the Houthis.
TRUMP TO VISIT SAUDI ARABIA, QATAR, AND UAE IN FIRST MIDDLE EAST TRIP THIS TERM
In March, Trump declared that “Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN.” He added that Iran would be held responsible and “suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire.”
The IDF also struck the “Bajil” Concrete Plant, east of the city of al-Hudaydah, which it says functions as a “significant economic resource for the Houthis” and is used for the construction of “underground tunnels and terrorist infrastructure for the terrorist regime.”
The strikes were meant to harm the Houthis’ economic and military buildup capabilities, the IDF said.
