IDF downs Houthi terror missile from Yemen

On Friday afternoon, terrorists in Yemen fired a ballistic missile toward northern Israel—the second such launch within eight hours.

By Charles Bybelezer, JNS

The Israeli Air Force intercepted a missile early Saturday morning that was launched from Yemen by Iran-backed Houthi terrorists.

The attack triggered air-raid sirens in Jerusalem and across southern Israel. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

Hours earlier, the IAF intercepted a drone launched “from the east,” a term the military typically uses to refer to threats originating in Yemen or Iraq.

The incidents marked the latest in a series of Houthi attacks. On Friday afternoon, terrorists in Yemen fired a ballistic missile toward northern Israel—the second such launch within eight hours.

“Following the alerts that were activated in several areas in the north of the country, one missile was launched from Yemeni territory,” the IDF said in a statement. “Interception attempts were made; the results are being investigated.”

Earlier on Friday, the Air Force downed another Houthi missile that had triggered sirens in the Haifa area and northern Samaria. The IDF confirmed the missile was intercepted before crossing into Israeli airspace and said that alerts were activated in accordance with policy.

On April 27, Israeli forces intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Yemen toward the Arava Desert and northern Dead Sea region. That same day, the IDF also downed an attack drone launched “from the east.”

A day earlier, the military intercepted a missile and a drone before they entered Israeli territory.

The Houthis, who control much of Yemen’s north, have stepped up their attacks on Israel in recent months.

The group, officially known as Ansar Allah, receives military and financial support from the Islamic Republic of Iran and was redesignated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the Trump administration in January.

The escalation began after Hamas—a U.S.-designated terrorist organization—carried out the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping 251.

That attack sparked a broader regional conflict involving Iran-aligned groups, including Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In response to repeated Houthi strikes on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and on Israeli territory, the United States launched “Operation Rough Rider,” a large-scale campaign of air and naval strikes, on March 15.

This effort, the most significant American action in the region during Trump’s second term, aims to degrade Houthi capabilities.