Yemen’s Houthis on Wednesday claimed a missile attack targeting Israel that they said was launched jointly with their backer Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group — the third such attack by the Houthis since they entered the Middle East war.
The Houthis “carried out the third military operation… targeting sensitive Israeli enemy targets… with a barrage of ballistic missiles”, military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a video statement.
“This operation was conducted jointly with our mujahideen brothers in Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon,” he added.
The Israeli military says air defences responded to a missile launched from Yemen, where Iran’s Houthi allies have claimed attacks on Israel in recent days.
A military statement said Israeli forces had “identified the launch of a missile from Yemen toward Israeli territory, aerial defence systems are operating to intercept the threat”, later announcing that residents were “permitted to leave protected spaces in all areas of the country”.
Israeli media said the missile was intercepted, and there were no reports of any casualties or damage.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday Washington could see the “finish line” in the Iran war, which is now in its fifth week, and the United States will have to reexamine ties with NATO after the conflict.
“We can see the finish line. It’s not today, it’s not tomorrow, but it is coming,” Rubio told Fox News Channel’s “Hannity” show.
President Donald Trump also on Tuesday lashed out at allies who have been unwilling to do more to support the US war effort against Iran, telling them to “go get your own oil” and saying it was not America’s job to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
The President said the military could end its offensive in two to three weeks and that the US “will not have anything to do with” what happens next in the strait that has been closed by the Islamic Republic. Instead, he told reporters, the responsibility for keeping the vital waterway open will rest with countries that rely on it.
There’s “no reason for us to do this” Trump said after signing an executive order that seeks to restrict mail-in voting. “That’s not for us. That’ll be for France. That’ll be for whoever’s using the strait.”
The White House said Trump would deliver a prime-time address Wednesday evening to update the public on the war. – France24.
