The Middle East is in turmoil. The leader of Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Abdelmalek al-Houthi, warned Israel of further attacks of greater intensity after the launch of a hypersonic missile this morning. In a speech, Al-Houthi declared that “the operation carried out today by our forces with an advanced Yemeni missile is part of the fifth phase of escalation. What is to come will be even greater.” The head of the Yemeni armed group also stressed that military operations will continue as long as Israel continues its attacks and blockade of Gaza. “We will continue to coordinate with the resistance in Gaza,” he said, referring to the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
The Israeli military, meanwhile, said the ballistic missile launched from Yemen by Iran-backed Houthi rebels broke up in mid-flight after several interception attempts. The missile, launched at around 6:21 a.m., triggered sirens across central Israel at 6:32 a.m. According to the IDF’s preliminary investigation, the missile disintegrated in mid-air, but the circumstances of the incident are still being verified. Tel Aviv forces attempted to shoot down the missile using both the long-range Arrow defense system and the Iron Dome, usually used for short-range strikes. Fragments of the missile and interceptors fell in open areas, including the Ben Shemen Forest near Kfar Daniel and a railway station near Modiin.
The Times of Israel online newspaper reports that no serious injuries were reported. The Ansar Allah movement, for its part, claimed to have carried out a “hypersonic missile attack” on an Israeli military installation in the Jaffa area. According to the statement published on Telegram, the attack used a new hypersonic ballistic missile that “reached the target after traveling 2,040 kilometers in 11 and a half minutes.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in response to the Houthi leader, promised to respond to the attack: “The Houthis must now know that we make people pay dearly for any attempt to harm us,” he said at the beginning of the regular weekly government meeting.
Source: IL Tempo
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
