Yemen's Houthi militia say they fired a ballistic missile at Israel on Saturday, making good on their threat to join the Iran war on the side of their patron Iran and widening the conflict as it hits the four-week mark.
They said they would continue their attacks until US and Israeli cease strikes on Iran and its proxy militant groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Shiite militias in Iraq.
“Our operations, with God’s help, will continue,” the Houthis said in a statement on Telegram, “until the aggression against all fronts of the resistance ceases”.
The Israeli military said earlier that it had identified the launch of a missile from Yemen towards southern Israel.
The attack came a day after the Houthis warned they would join the war in support of Iran if US-Israeli escalation continues or if other countries enter the conflict, risking a return of the Red Sea to the line of fire.
"We affirm that our fingers are on the trigger for direct military intervention," the group's military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement, outlining three red lines.
The first, he said, would be the entry of any additional alliances alongside the US and Israel against Iran and its “axis of resistance” – regional groups alighend with Tehran in opposing the US and Israel. The second is the use of the Red Sea by the US or Israel to carry out hostile operations against Iran or any Muslim country.
The third is "the continuation of the escalation against the Islamic Republic and the Axis of Jihad and Resistance, as dictated by the theatre of military operations".
The group is positioned along Yemen’s western coastline near Bab Al Mandeb, the narrow strait at the Red Sea's southern entrance and one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints.
The Houthis began targeting passing commercial vessels with drones and missiles a month after the start of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023. They also attacked Israel, prompting a fierce Israeli and US military retaliation. The attacks were halted after a ceasefire in Gaza went into effect in October last year.
Their involvement in the Iran war risks amplifying the global impact of the current war. If Bab Al Mandeb comes under sustained attack, it would compound an already fragile situation for global shipping after Iran effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf.
The two straits form a continuous corridor for global trade and function as sequential choke points along the same artery, despite being geographically distant, with a sea route of 3,500 to 4,000 kilometres.
Ships and tankers leaving the Gulf exit through Hormuz, cross the Arabian Sea, enter the Gulf of Aden, pass through Bab Al Mandeb into the Red Sea, and continue towards the Suez Canal and European markets. If both are hit, the route effectively breaks end-to-end.
