Houthis strike Israel's Beersheba with Iranian-made missile

Yemen’s Houthi movement, officially known as Ansar Allah, has announced that it launched a ballistic missile at what it described as a “sensitive Israeli target” in the southern city of Beersheba.

The announcement was made by Brigadier General Yahya Saree, spokesperson for the Yemeni armed forces, via the Houthi-aligned Al Masirah TV channel.

“Yemeni armed forces carried out a high-quality military operation to strike a sensitive Israeli enemy target in the occupied area of Beersheba using a ballistic missile,” Saree said. He confirmed that the missile used in the strike was a Zolfaghar, an Iranian-designed medium-range ballistic missile.

Saree also noted that several additional attacks had been launched on Israeli territory over the past week, involving both missiles and drones. These operations, he claimed, were part of an ongoing campaign in support of the Palestinian cause.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli army’s press service reported the successful interception of a missile launched from Yemen. It did not confirm the target or whether it was the same Zolfaghar missile mentioned by the Houthis.

Meanwhile, tensions have escalated further between the Houthis and the United States. Ansar Allah spokesman Mohammed al-Bukhaiti declared that the ceasefire agreement previously reached with Washington was no longer in effect. He warned that Houthi forces would begin targeting US military assets in the Red Sea in retaliation for recent American airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

“In response to the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, our forces will carry out attacks on American targets in the Red Sea,” al-Bukhaiti said, underscoring that the ceasefire with the United States had been voided.

That ceasefire had been brokered in early May by Oman, in which the Houthis had pledged to halt attacks on American military ships in exchange for a suspension of US strikes on Yemeni territory. 

By Tamilla Hasanova