Israel Retaliates Against the Houthis

Last night, Israel carried out airstrikes against energy facilities and ports in Yemen that are used by the Houthis in launching attacks against Israel. The Israelis say they will carry out more strikes against the terrorist group, which is backed by Iran and has launched hundreds of weapons at Israel over the last thirteen months.

Over the same period, the Houthis have caused much disruption to international trade by attacking shipping in nearby waters, claiming to do so in support of the Palestinians embroiled in Hamas’ war with Israel.

While the approximately 200 missiles and 170 drones the Houthis have fired have not caused huge damage in Israel, some of them have made a significant impact. The latest one was only partially intercepted last night, and the warhead fell on a multistorey school building in Ramat Gan, which collapsed when it was hit.

The city’s mayor has estimated the damage at the equivalent of $11 million and promised the school would get a replacement building. Thankfully, there were no children in the building at the time of impact.

A particularly troubling aspect of this whole situation is that the Houthis are spending huge sums of money attacking Israel from a distance of more than 2,000 kilometres, while 4.7 million Yemenis are experiencing high levels of food insecurity, including 1.2 million experiencing critical levels characterised by large food gaps and high levels of acute malnutrition.

This report on Israel’s strikes is by The Times and The Sunday Times.