An Israeli Air Force fighter jet taxis on the runway, fully armed and ready for operations. Photo: IDF.
Israel is preparing to launch significant strikes against the Houthi terror group in Yemen, according to sources cited in Israeli media, after the group’s last ballistic missile attack triggered sirens across large parts of central Israel on Monday.
The IDF later reported that it shot down the ballistic missile, which the Houthis claimed was a hypersonic missile, outside the atmosphere with an Arrow-3 interceptor missile.
The attack didn’t result in any direct injuries, but several people were injured while rushing to a safety shelter during the alarms. Since November, the Houthis have now launched six ballistic missiles and about five drones at Israel. This includes a drone that struck an apartment building in Yavne without triggering alarms, earlier this month.
🔴 Rocket Alert [15:18:38] – 121 Alerts 🔴:
• Shfela (Lowlands) — Nir Zvi, Ganot, Zrifin Industrial Zone, Beit Dagan, Be’er Yacov, Mishmar HaShiva, Rishon LeZion – West, Hemed, Ben Shemen Youth Village, Rishon LeZion – East, Yagel, Tzafria, Lod, Ahisemech, Ben Shemen, Ramla,… pic.twitter.com/JR28RNywMe
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) December 16, 2024
Meanwhile, U.S. CENTCOM announced on Tuesday that it conducted a precision airstrike against a key command and control facility in the Yemeni capital Sana’a overnight.
According to Channel 12, the targeted site was equivalent to Israel’s “pit,” the IDF’s central underground command bunker. “The results of the attack are not clear and it will be checked if a senior Houthi security figure was present,” wrote Nir Dvori, the channel’s military correspondent.
🚨BREAKING🚨 Reports of strikes on the Yemeni Ministry of Defense building (Houthis) in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen. pic.twitter.com/ALKC4d2HQw
— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) December 16, 2024
“The targeted facility was a hub for coordinating Houthi operations, such as attacks against U.S. Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” CENTCOM stated on 𝕏.
“The strike reflects CENTCOM’s ongoing commitment to protect U.S. and coalition personnel, regional partners, and international shipping.”
The strikes mark the first time that the U.S. hit a target in the center of the capital Sana’a.
“This is an unusual target for the U.S. to strike in Yemen against the Houthis. Usually the U.S. strikes radar facilities, storage sites, and launchpads. A ‘key command-and-control facility’ is different this time,” stated Jason Brodsky, policy director for the United Against Nuclear Iran think tank.
“The Pit in Sana’a is a command center for the Houthis and it focuses the organization’s terrorist activities, from where they carry out attacks against ships and vessels in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden,” Dvori explained.
He added that since the U.S. so far only struck launchers, launch sites and missiles in Yemen, “the destruction of the command center… may indicate a certain change in the attitude of the U.S. government.”
A spokesman for the Houthi rebels said the attack was “an attempt to break the will of the Yemeni people to help the Palestinian people.”
Ever since November 2023, when the Houthis began attacking Israel and international shipping lanes in the Red Sea, the IDF has struck Yemen twice. The last strike took place in September, when the Israeli Air Force bombed several targets near Hodeidah port, located around 1,800 km (1,100 miles) from Israel.
“The massive attacks on the main economic artery of the Houthis in the port of Hodeidah… did not cause the terrorist organization to completely stop its activities against Israel, so there is an understanding in Jerusalem that the story is not going to end soon,” Dvori wrote.
“The army has plans to carry out a powerful operation,” he added. Sources told the Jerusalem Post that Israel’s leadership has finally lost its patience with the Houthis.
“There will be no restraint – they will get what they deserve,” military sources told Ynet News. “They will pay a heavy price.”
