How Israel’s Yemen strikes could be prelude to target Iran nuclear sites
Israel is debating whether to seize the detected window of opportunity and target not only the Houthis in Yemen but also Iran’s entire nuclear program.
TEL AVIV — Israel’s fourth strike against the Houthis, carried out on Thursday, caused serious damage to Yemen's infrastructure. Still, the Israeli military echelon estimates that the assault will not deter the group from continuing to launch ballistic missiles and attack drones at the Jewish state.
Contrary to the prior three strikes, Thursday’s attack took place in broad daylight. It was the largest strike on Houthi targets since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, and the first time that Israel hit Sanaa's international airport, paralyzing it. Israeli jets also struck the Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Kanatib ports on the western coast and two power stations, causing massive power cuts.
The assessment that Thursday’s strike would not deter the Houthis from targeting Israel again was proven correct almost immediately. A ballistic missile launched from Yemen early Friday morning was intercepted outside of Israel’s airspace. Still, out of precaution, alarm sirens sounded in dozens of Israeli towns and villages, sending hundreds of thousands of citizens to bomb shelters.
Even the Ben Gurion airport was shut down for half an hour. Four flights on their way to Tel Aviv were instructed to reroute and land elsewhere. From security and political perspectives, interference with Israel’s air traffic poses a serious problem the country cannot tolerate in the long term.
