Israel Vows Escalation In Yemen, Will Target Houthi Leaders

After several major Houthi rocket attacks out of Yemen of late, Israeli leaders are vowing to step up military reprisals directly on Houthi leadership and its military infrastructure.

Saturday saw one of the biggest Houthi strikes to date, coming in the form of a reported hypersonic ballistic missile which hit Tel Aviv, leaving 16 people injured. And Tuesday morning saw another Houthi missile launch on Israel, which marks the third such attack in less than a week. The Houthis, which are linked to Iran, have vowed to not stop until Israel's military withdraws from Gaza.

Defense Minister Israel Katz now says the leaders of the Yemeni group have made themselves targets. Taking them out will now be a top priority for the Israeli military.

"Just as we took care of Sinwar in Gaza, Haniyeh in Tehran and Nasrallah in Beirut, we will deal with the heads of the Houthis in Sana’a or anywhere in Yemen," Katz has said in the Tuesday comments, making reference to the slain leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas.

"We will act both against their infrastructure and against them to remove the threat," he pledged while inspecting an Arrow air defense system battery which just intercepted the latest Houthi missile attack.

He also again called out Iran, warning that "whoever sponsors the Houthi terror in Hodeida or Sana’a will pay the full price." Washington has for years documented Tehran's support to the group, which has included advanced missiles and drone technology. This has allowed the threat out of Yemen to grow significantly.

The past days and weeks has already seen Israel launch intermittent aerial strikes against the Houthis, but targeting individual leaders will mark new territory in the campaign.

"Firing at Houthi leaders would seem to mark an escalation by Israel, which has so far targeted port infrastructure and military sites in a handful of sorties in response to repeated launches of drones and ballistic missiles from Yemen," Times of Israel notes.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stressed that Israel sees the Houthis as the "terrorist arm" of Iran and won't stand idly by while they attack.

"The US, and also other countries, like us, see the Houthis as a threat, not only to world shipping, but also to world order," he said Sunday, after the destructive Saturday attack.

"Just as we acted forcefully against the terrorist arms of Iran’s evil axis, so we will act against the Houthis…with force, determination and sophistication," Netanyahu added.