Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired a barrage of ballistic missiles and drones at Israel on Saturday, formally entering the monthlong United States-Israeli war on Iran and raising fresh alarm over the security of the Red Sea, one of the world’s most critical trade corridors.
The assault marked the first Houthi strikes since the conflict erupted when the United States and Israel attacked Iran, which retaliated with strikes on Israel and neighboring Gulf Arab states. The war has upended global air travel, disrupted oil exports, and sent fuel prices sharply higher.
Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree announced the attack on the group’s Al-Masirah television network, saying the rebels had launched missiles toward “sensitive Israeli military sites” in southern Israel. A second strike followed hours later. Both missiles were intercepted and no injuries or damage were reported, according to Israeli security officials.
Sirens sounded around Beer Sheba and near Israel’s main nuclear research centre as Iran and Hezbollah continued to fire on Israel overnight. Explosions were also reported in Tel Aviv, where Israel’s Fire and Rescue Service said it responded to 11 impact sites.
Saree said the attacks were conducted in solidarity with Iran and resistance forces in Lebanon, Iraq, and the Palestinian territories, adding that operations would continue until what he described as aggression against all fronts of the resistance ceased.
The Houthis’ entry into the conflict raises the prospect of fresh disruption to the Red Sea, a vital artery for global commerce, particularly for trade between Europe and Asia. Global shipping and oil markets are already in turmoil after Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, which the International Energy Agency described as the worst disruption in the history of the oil market.
Around one-tenth of the world’s seaborne oil shipments normally pass through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the narrow chokepoint just 26 kilometres wide separating the Arabian Peninsula from the Horn of Africa. A senior Houthi official has warned that closing the strait remains an active option, a threat analysts say could compound an already severe global economic crisis.
Fawaz Gerges, a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics, said the Houthis had given the United States and Israel “a taste of what’s to come,” warning that their full capabilities had not yet been deployed.
The involvement of the Houthis also complicates the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the United States Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier, which arrived in Split, Croatia on Saturday after undergoing repairs in Crete. Returning the carrier to the Red Sea would risk drawing it into the same sustained attacks faced by other carriers during previous operations against the group.
Separately, more than two dozen American troops have been wounded in Iranian attacks on Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Air Base over the past week, with Iran firing six ballistic missiles and 29 drones at the base on Friday alone, injuring at least 15 personnel, including five seriously.
The war, which began on 28 February with surprise United States and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has now entered its second month with no ceasefire in sight.
