By Agency Report
As Israel’s interceptors failed to knock down a ballistic missile launched by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen impacted a playground in south Tel Aviv early Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate the attacks.
“The incident is still being thoroughly investigated,” the Israel Defense Forces said, adding that following initial investigations by the Israeli Air Force and Home Front Command, “some of the conclusions have already been implemented, both regarding interception and early warning.”
“No further details regarding aerial defense activities and the alert system can be given due to operational security considerations,” the IDF added.
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According to an initial IAF probe, several different types of interceptor missiles were launched at the target. Interception attempts were made both above and in the atmosphere.
Israel operates a multi-tiered air defense array, which includes the short-range Iron Dome, the medium-range David’s Sling, and the long-range Arrow system, the latter of which is designed to shoot down ballistic missiles outside the atmosphere.
Medics said 16 people were lightly injured by shattered glass, including a three-year-old girl, while 14 were bruised while rushing to shelters.
Footage from the park showed a crater where the missile had impacted.
The missile triggered sirens throughout central Israel at 3:44 a.m., sending millions rushing to shelters from their beds, the second time in as many days that a Houthi missile sparked alerts in the center in the middle of the night.
Early Thursday morning, a partially-intercepted missile fired from Yemen crashed into an empty school building in the city of Ramat Gan, causing severe damage but no injuries.
A short while later, the IDF carried out intense airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, though the operation had been in planning for weeks, and jets were already in the air when the missile was launched. Dozens of planes struck Houthi targets along Yemen’s western coast and, for the first time, in the rebel-held capital Sana’a.
Meanwhile, the Saudi Al Arabiya network reported Saturday that Houthi leaders had begun to leave the Yemeni capital of Sana’a in recent days. The report cited sources as saying that the leaders left Sana’a in anticipation that Israel would carry out targeted retaliatory attacks on political and military leadership inside the city.
Following the missile attack, Houthi official Hezam al-Asad posted several mocking messages to X, some of them in Hebrew.
In one post in Hebrew, he wrote: “The failure of all Israeli defense systems means that the heart of the Zionist enemy is no longer secure.”
In another, he said: “There is no longer any use for interception systems that cost billions of dollars.”
In an Arabic post, he wrote: “The enemy is trying to minimize its losses in the media to maintain its military standing and the morale of its settlers. It portrays the areas where the interceptor missiles fell as targets hit by [our] missiles.”
Netanyahu vows retaliation against Houthis rebels
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday that Israel would act against the Houthi rebels in Yemen with the same force it used against Iran’s other “terrorist arms,” appearing to indicate the start of a stepped-up campaign against the Islamic Republic’s proxy group, after a ballistic missile crashed into a Tel Aviv playground over the weekend.
At the same time, Israeli reports said that senior defense officials, including the head of the Mossad spy agency, believe the correct move is to attack Iran directly, rather than go for its proxy group in Yemen.
In a video statement issued after a meeting of his security cabinet in the northern Israel town of Safed, Netanyahu stressed that Israel was not alone in operating against the Houthis, pointing to repeated strikes carried out by American and British forces against Houthi targets over the past year.
“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,” the premier said.
Netanyahu’s comments came a day after a ballistic missile launched by the Iran-backed group exploded in a playground in south Tel Aviv on Saturday, wounding 16 and causing extensive damage after attempts to intercept it failed.
It was the second time in as many days that a Houthi missile sparked sirens in the country’s center in the middle of the night, after a warhead launched on Thursday was partially intercepted outside Israeli airspace and crashed into an empty school building in the city of Ramat Gan, again causing severe damage but no injuries.
Shortly after the strike in Ramat Gan, the IDF carried out a wave of intense airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. The timing of the operation was coincidental, as it had been planned for weeks and the planes were already in the air when the missile was launched.
Dozens of planes struck Houthi targets along Yemen’s western coast and, for the first time, in the rebel-held capital Sana’a.
Israeli military sources said the strikes were aimed at paralyzing all three ports used by the Iran back group. The targets included fuel and oil depots, two power stations, and eight tugboats used at the Houthi-controlled ports.
Indicating that similar strikes could be in store for the Houthis at a future date, Netanyahu on Sunday promised that even though the operation against the rebel group may take time, the results will be the same as those seen in Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
Seemingly confirming future strikes in Yemen, an Israeli official told the Times of Israel that “Houthis are now the focus” of Israel’s defense establishment.
“There are going to be more attacks,” the official said.
The strikes on Houthi targets over the last year appear to have had a financial impact on the group, as the Turkish state-owned Anadolu news agency recently reported that the Houthi-run Yemeni Transport Ministry and Red Sea Ports Corporation announced that strikes on the port city of Hodeida in Western Yemen since July have caused $313 million in losses.
The Houthis began their attacks on Israel and against global shipping routes in the Red Sea last November, in the the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror onslaught in southern Israel that sparked the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
The group has launched more than 200 missiles and 170 drones at Israel in the past year, although the IDF has said that the vast majority did not reach the country or were intercepted by the military and its allies in the region.
The Iran-backed rebels have also carried out repeated missile and drone attacks on some 100 merchant vessels attempting to traverse the Red Sea, forcing many carriers to avoid the key waterway and hamstringing global shipping.
Tehran said fearful of Israeli attack
Even as Israel appears poised to ramp up its attacks on the Houthis, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Sunday evening that almost all of the top brass of Israel’s defense establishment think that Israel should attack “inside Iranian territory.”
The rival Channel 13 news reported that among these senior officials is Mossad chief David Barnea, who reportedly told government officials in recent meetings: “We need to go for the head [of the snake], for Iran — if we only hit the Houthis, it’s not certain we’ll manage to stop them.”
According to Channel 12, the question of tackling Iran — a possible reference both to efforts to deter the Houthis and to target Iran’s nuclear facilities — has come up repeatedly in security cabinet meetings, even as the focus has been on finding ways to counter the upsurge in Houthi missile attacks.
Israel has assessed that the Houthis took a decision to escalate missile and other attacks, the network stated, and that the group’s actions are not always coordinated with Iran, or even appreciated by Iran.
Quoting unnamed Israeli political and military leaders, Channel 12 reported that Tehran’s leadership believes Israel may soon attack it, and is holding frenzied consultations to decide what to do in the event that it does.
The report, which the outlet stressed was approved by the military censor, said that at recent meetings of Israel’s political and military leadership, officials have said Iran believes Israel chose to accept a ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon in order to free up resources to deal directly with Iran and exact a price from the regime.
It stated that Israeli sources believe Tehran is concerned for three key reasons: because Israel has destroyed Iran’s air defenses in a way that enables access for the Israeli Air Force; because it accepted the ceasefire in Lebanon; and because of US President-elect Donald Trump’s electoral victory.
The report also stated that Israel’s leadership has discussed doing everything in its power to ensure Iran is not able to regain its grip on Lebanon after the severe blows dealt to Hezbollah by Israel, or on Syria following the ousting of deposed president Bashar al-Assad earlier this month.
Despite the reported support by senior defense officials for direct strikes on Iran, Channel 12 also cited unnamed sources as saying Israel should avoid a protracted confrontation with Tehran right now since it would not serve Israel’s interests — though it must still nurture and advance its operational capabilities regarding Iran.
US fears Iran may focus on nukes
While the setbacks to Tehran’s regional influence are reportedly seen as an opportunity by Israel, the US is concerned that, in its weakened state, Iran could turn its attention to building a nuclear weapon.
Speaking to CNN on Sunday, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said he was briefing Trump’s team on the risk that the Biden administration believes to be credible.
Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defenses, have reduced Tehran’s conventional military capabilities, Sullivan told CNN.
“It’s no wonder there are voices (in Iran) saying, ‘Hey, maybe we need to go for a nuclear weapon right now… Maybe we have to revisit our nuclear doctrine,’” Sullivan said.
He added that he has told the Trump team to be “vigilant,” adding: “It’s a risk that I’m personally briefing the incoming team on about the threat of nuclear escalation.”
Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but it has expanded uranium enrichment since Trump, in his 2017-2021 presidential term, pulled out of a deal between Tehran and world powers that put restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activity in exchange for sanctions relief.
