While the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen have launched over 72 ballistic missiles and 23 drones at Israel since March, the fact that most projectiles are intercepted or downed before ever reaching Israeli airspace gives the impression that the Houthi front has gone dormant. The persistence and determination with which the Houthis operate, however, pose a daily threat to Israeli security, which only reaches international headlines when new tactics and tit-for-tat counterstrikes escalate the conflict.

This happened on August 22, when the Houthis fired a cluster warhead missile at Israel for the first time, signaling not only new capabilities within its arsenal but also prompting an unexpected retaliation from Israel. (RELATED: The Meaning of US Airstrikes on Houthis)

A cluster warhead breaks away from the missile body in mid-air and disperses into smaller, unguided warheads that can target a larger area. The Houthi missile was reminiscent of the three cluster warheads Iran launched at Israel during the last days of the so-called 12-Day War in June.

On June 22, an Israeli Iron Dome interceptor destroyed an Iranian missile body over northern Israel, but failed to account for one of the detached warheads that landed in central Haifa. Similarly, Israeli air defenses failed to destroy the Houthi missile on August 22, although no casualties were reported from the impacts. (RELATED: Can We Hobble the Houthis?)

The Houthis possess independent production capabilities to manufacture missiles and drones with parts supplied by Iran and North Korea. It is doubtful, however, that this cluster warhead was manufactured in Yemen. Rather, it’s clear evidence of the steady, open communication between the Houthis and their Iranian arms suppliers. While the overt 12-day War between Iran and Israel may have reached an official ceasefire, the covert war between these two regional powers continues to be waged through the Iranian proxies in Yemen.

Israel responded to the Houthi attack with long-range airstrikes on Houthi-controlled areas in the capital city of Sanaa and military and economic infrastructure exploited for terror purposes, the IDF stated on X.

The retaliatory airstrikes culminated last Thursday, August 28, when Israeli Air Force (IAF) fighter jets targeted an apartment building on the outskirts of Sanaa where the Houthi prime minister and most of his cabinet members had gathered to watch a televised speech by the Houthi leader, Abdulmalik al-Houthi. The targeted attack killed Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser Al-Rahawi and eight of his cabinet members, including Defense Minister Al-Attafi, a senior official who maintained open channels with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Al-Rahawi’s Houthis rebel faction has been fighting Yemen’s internationally recognized government for over a decade. The rebels currently control the capital city of Sanaa and the major ports in Ras Isa and Hodeidah, where they launch attacks on international shipping and Israel. The IDF reported that the “complex operation” to take out the terrorist group’s top leadership was backed by real-time intelligence and was carried out despite heavy air defenses in the Sanaa area.

Israel has been carrying out targeted airstrikes on the Houthis ever since the group began launching missiles at Israel after October 7, 2023, in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza. Last Thursday marked the 16th airstrike carried out by the IAF and signaled a significant shift in strategy from targeting military positions to precision strikes on senior officials.

The Houthi leader, Abdulmalik al-Houthi, vowed continued retaliation in a televised speech on the rebels’ Al-Masirah media network, promising “additional success” in the coming days to thwart “the Israeli enemy’s attempts to commit crimes against our dear people or to target official institutions and cities.”

The rebel terrorist group also made several raids on U.N. bases in Sanaa and Hodeida, detaining 11 U.N. personnel on suspicion of collaboration with Israel. Since 2021, the Houthis have already detained 23 U.N. workers, claiming they are part of an undercover “American-Israeli spy network.” The U.N. envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said in a statement: “I strongly condemn the new wave of arbitrary detentions of U.N. personnel today in Sanaa and Hodeida… as well as the forced entry into U.N. premises and seizures of U.N. property.”

The World Food Programme (WFP) also reported that one of its workers had been detained on Sunday by the Houthi militants in Sanaa.

Because of the Houthis’ decade-long civil war, Yemen has experienced one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, as over half the population relies on aid from the WFP and other UN agencies such as UNICEF.

The Israeli security cabinet’s weekly meeting on Sunday, August 31, was moved to an undisclosed location as the Shin Bet bolstered its security around Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz as the Yemeni rebels vowed revenge for decimating its top leadership. Israeli news channel Kan 12 reported that the Shin Bet — Israel’s internal security and counterterrorism agency — was taking unprecedented measures to protect senior officials meeting in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu dismissed al-Houthi’s televised speech, calling a bluff on the promise to destroy Israel. “That promise will not be fulfilled. But our promise — to strike the terror regime with increased force — is being fulfilled,” Netanyahu said on Sunday. “In a deadly blow, the IDF eliminated most of the Houthi government and additional military officials.”

Israel has proven its capabilities over the past two years to reach its enemies’ top leadership through expansive intelligence resources and precision attacks. On September 27, 2024, IAF jets took out Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in his underground headquarters in Beirut and eliminated numerous Hezbollah and IRGC leaders in various locations across Lebanon and Iran. Almost a month later, the IDF killed Hamas’s top leader, Yahya Sinwar, although not through a planned strike. Even during the 12-Day War with Iran, Israel waved the possibility of assassinating Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, as leverage to end the war.

The airstrikes in Sanaa last week marked a tactical shift in the Yemen campaign. “This is only the beginning of the campaign targeting senior officials in Sanaa. We will reach all of them,” Netanyahu stated on Sunday.

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