The Defence Minister of Israel Katz, on 23 December, confirmed for the first time that the Jewish nation was behind the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. The militant leader Haniyeh was assassinated on 31 July 2024 by an explosive device planted at his guesthouse. Now for the first time Israel has admitted its hand in the killing of the Hamas leader. The Israel defence minister has also publicly warned “the Houthi terrorist organisation” that it would “behead their leaders”.
In a statement, the minister said, “These days, when the Houthi terrorist organization is firing missiles at Israel, I want to convey a clear message to them at the beginning of my remarks: We have defeated Hamas, we have defeated Hezbollah, we have blinded Iran’s defence systems and damaged the production systems, we have toppled the Assad regime in Syria, we have dealt a severe blow to the axis of evil, and we will also deal a severe blow to the Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen, which remains the last to stand.”
He further added during an evening honoring defence ministry personnel, “Israel will damage their strategic infrastructure, and we will behead their leaders – just as we did to Haniyeh, Sinwar and Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon – we will do it in Hodeidah and Sana’a.”
“We have overthrown the Assad regime in Syria, we have dealt heavy blows to the ‘axis of evil,’ and we will also severely strike the Houthi terror organization in Yemen, which remains the last one standing,” he continued.
Clashes with the Houthis
However, this particular reaction from the Defence Minister comes in response to repeated launches of drones and ballistic missiles from Yemen. A missile fired early Tuesday was shot down, but sirens in the Tel Aviv area caused widespread panic and a rush to shelter left one woman seriously injured. It was the fourth drone or missile attack within a week from Yemen.
A ballistic missile crashed into a Tel Aviv playground overnight on 20 December, injuring 16 people. The next day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also threatened that Israel would use the same force it used against Iran’s other “terrorist arms” against the Houthis in Yemen, signaling the beginning of a more aggressive campaign against the Islamic Republic’s proxy group.
The warhead of a partially intercepted ballistic missile fired at Israel by Houthi rebels struck a multistory school building in Ramat Gan on 19 December, causing it to collapse. The US and Israel have recently launched attacks on Houthi targets across Yemen, but the rebel group doesn’t appear to be paralyzed.
Iran-backed Houthis, who are based in Yemen, have been hitting commercial shipping in the Red Sea for over a year in an attempt to impose a naval blockade on Israel. They claim their actions were motivated by a desire to show support with Palestinians in Gaza, which is at war with Israel.
Israel has been bombing Gaza since October 7, 2023, when Hamas killed 1,200 Israeli citizens. In response the Jewish nation initiated an offensive first against Hamas then against Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed organization in Lebanon. After eliminating many high ranking leaders of the two organizations it seems the Jewish nation is now looking to neutralize the Houthis to finally exercise control over all of Iran’s proxy groups in the region.
