Israel vows to target leaders of Houthis in Yemen in retaliation for attacks

Israel declared on Tuesday that it will start targeting the leaders of the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen in response to a series of missile and drone attacks against Israel in recent weeks. 

“Just as we took care of [Yayha] Sinwar in Gaza, [Ismail] Haniyeh in Tehran and [Hassan] Nasrallah in Beirut, we will deal with the heads of the Houthis in Sana’a or anywhere in Yemen,” Israel’s defense minister Israel Katz said Tuesday, according to the Times of Israel.

This follows a series of attacks by the Houthis against Israel, including another ballistic missile fired Tuesday morning, which was intercepted before it entered Israeli airspace. 

But 16 were injured after a Houthi missile exploded on a Tel Aviv playground last Friday, while at least 200 missiles and 170 drones have been launched into Israel by the Houthis in the last year, according to the New York Post. 

The defense minister also issued a threat to Iran, promising that “whoever sponsors the Houthi terror in Hodeida or Sana’a will pay the full price.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel will deal with the Houthis in the same way as it has dealt with other of Iran’s “terrorist arms.”