Israeli defense chief threatens to assassinate Houthi leaders

‘Whoever supports Houthi terrorism in Hudaydah or Sana’a will pay the full price,’ warns Defense Minister Israel Katz after latest Houthi missile attack on Israel.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s defense minister signaled on Tuesday that the IDF is preparing for a major retaliation against pro-Iranian forces in Yemen after a string of missile attacks on Israel.

Defense Minister Israel Katz (Likud) visited a Hetz (Arrow) missile defense battery Tuesday morning, accompanied by air defense commander Brig. Gen. Gilad Biran.

The visit came hours after the missile battery successfully shot down a missile fired by Yemenite Houthis toward central Israel overnight.

“I came here today to congratulate you on the very successful interception you carried out against the upgraded missile fired yesterday by the Houthi terrorist organization from Yemen,” Katz said.

“The State of Israel has the best air defense capability in the world, and we know we can rely on you. Millions count on you, waking up to the sound of alarms but knowing there is someone to handle the threat.”

Katz said that Israel “will not tolerate” continued attacks from pro-Iranian forces in Yemen and intimated that the IDF is preparing to assassinate Houthi leaders.

“We will not tolerate the fact that the Houthis continue to fire at the State of Israel. I warned and said that just as we dealt with Sinwar in Gaza, Haniyeh in Tehran, and Nasrallah in Beirut, we will also deal with the Houthi leaders in Sana’a and everywhere in Yemen,” Katz said.

“We will act both against their infrastructures and against them to remove the threat and eliminate the dangers to the State of Israel in order to achieve our goals. Whoever supports Houthi terrorism in Hudaydah or Sana’a will pay the full price,” he continued.

“We do not rely on anyone other than the IDF to protect the communities and residents. We will not allow threats to emerge and will act proactively against any threat. The threat today in the skies is the first missile war – you will continue to defend the state’s skies, and we will act with great force offensively to eliminate the threats to the State of Israel.”