The Iranian-backed Houthis are seeking to show they are not yet defeated by several days of US airstrikes. US President Donald Trump has vowed that the Houthi rebels will be “completely annihilated” if they don’t yield to the new US strikes.
The Houthis launched a missile at central Israel around four in the morning on March 20. They also launched a missile toward the Negev on March 19. In addition, they have targeted Egypt’s Sinai over the last four days.
The group wants to show that it still has some capabilities and that it is seeking to call what it may think is the Trump administration’s bluff. Millions of Israelis were woken up by the sirens on March 20. This had been a routine back in December and early January when the Houthis launched missiles every few nights at Israel.
The Houthi’s Brigadier General Yahya Saree, the spokesperson for the group, said that the “operation marked the fifth consecutive day of effective and responsible retaliation against US aggression.”
The Iranian-backed Houthis control a swath of Yemen. They have long-range drones and ballistic missiles. These were mostly based on Iranian technology transfer. The White House has warned that Iran could be held responsible for continued Houthi attacks.
Iran has tried to distance itself from the group in recent days. It claims the Houthis make their own decisions. The Houthis claimed they had targeted Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport using “a ballistic missile known as Palestine 2.”
‘Retaliation against US aggression’
The statement by Saree “said the operation marked the fifth consecutive day of effective and responsible retaliation against US aggression, particularly following attacks on civilian infrastructure in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, and several Yemeni provinces.”
Furthermore, he said that the group has “intensified their efforts to target enemy warships in the Red Sea, including the aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and its accompanying naval vessels.” He vowed that the US would fail in its attempts to bomb the Houthis into submission.
The Houthis made the statement after the US carried out more airstrikes against Hudeidah, a port city, and the city of Sa’ada. The Houthis claim US strikes have killed 53 people.
The attack on Israel is an attempt by the group to show that they can continue to target Israel, even under the watchful eyes of the US. That means they feel they can still wheel out their missiles from hiding places, such as cave complexes, and launch them.
This is a challenge for the US and Israel. It shows that air power alone may not be able to stop the missiles. It is a reminder that during the Gulf War in 1991, the Saddam regime was able to launch Scud missiles at Israel from Iraq’s western Anbar province despite the massive US-led Coalition strikes on Iraq. This led to the “great Scud hunt” where the US, UK and others sought to find the Scuds.
However, the “hunt” was not very successful. It’s hard to find ballistic missiles and their launches. Technology has progressed since then and it remains to be seen if the US and Israel can put a stop to the Houthi aggression.
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