Israel issues strongest threat yet against Iran after Houthi missile attack

AFP | Jerusalem

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Israel issued its strongest threat yet against Iran yesterday, warning it would do to it what it has done to Hamas in Gaza after an attack on Ben Gurion airport by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Along with Hezbollah and Hamas, Yemen’s Houthi rebels are part of Iran’s “axis of resistance” against Israel and its ally the United States.

They say their repeated attacks on Israel and on shipping in the Red Sea are in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas sparked a war in October 2023 by launching an unprecedented attack on Israel.

Israel hit back against the Houthis’ attack on its main airport on Sunday by striking the airport in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, as well as three power stations in the impoverished country.

“I warn... Iranian leaders who finance, arm and exploit the Houthi terrorist organization: the proxy system is terminated and the axis of evil has collapsed,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.

“You are directly responsible. What we have done to Hezbollah in Beirut, to Hamas in Gaza, to (now ousted Syrian president Bashar) Assad in Damascus, we will do to you in Tehran too.”

Warning that Israel would not allow “any entity to harm Israel”, Katz added: “Israel should be able to defend itself... against any threat and against any enemy. This has been the case with several challenges in the past, and it will continue to be the case in future.

“Anyone who attacks us will be severely struck.” In Syria, an Islamist-led rebel alliance toppled Assad in December, effectively cutting off the supply route from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah, like the Houthis, also began cross-border attacks on Israel following the 2023 attack by Hamas.