The attack on Israel on Saturday morning by the Houthis, an Iranian-backed militia in Yemen, marked an escalation in the monthlong U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, bringing in a new actor who threatened to expand the war’s reach across the region.
The Israeli military said early on Saturday that its aerial defense systems had intercepted a missile fired from Yemen. No casualties were immediately reported after the attack.
There has long been concern that if the Houthis were to enter the war, the group could seek to disrupt global shipping through theRed Sea, which it has done previously by firing on passing ships.
The global economy is already reeling from Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial choke point for energy shipments in the Persian Gulf.
The Houthis said in a statement that the group had launched ballistic missiles targeting “sensitive” Israeli military sites, and that it was acting in tandem with Iran and Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group based in Lebanon.
The statement said the attacks would continue “until the aggression on all resistance fronts stops.”
The Houthis are Shiite militants who have been engaged in a conflict with Yemen’s internationally-recognized government for nearly two decades. In 2014, they captured the capital, Sanaa, forcing the government to flee to the southern port city of Aden.
An alliance led by Saudi Arabia to remove the Houthis faltered and led to a devastating civil war that precipitated one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises.
The attack on Saturday marks the latest escalation in a yearslong conflict between Israel and the Houthis.
In 2023, shortly after the onset of the Gaza war, the Houthis began launching drones and missiles at Israel and ships in the Red Sea. They described their actions as a campaign to force Israel to halt its bombardment of Gaza and to allow more aid into the enclave.
The attacks disrupted traffic through one of the world’s major maritime corridors, forcing shipping companies to reroute around the southern tip of Africa. This detour, which added thousands of miles and several days to transit times, significantly raised shipping costs and delays.
The United States responded with military action that included over 1,100 strikes on Houthi targets. Despite the campaign and a 2025 cease-fire agreement between the United States and the Houthis, some major shipping companies continued to avoid the routes as the militia kept up attacks in support of the Palestinian cause.
The Houthis consider themselves part of Iran’s “axis of resistance,” a loose network of groups that includes Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and Shiite militias in Iraq.
The axis has weakened in recent years, primarily because Israel has targeted its leaders with airstrikes, disrupted its operations and struck key infrastructure. But it continues to defend Iran’s interests and to counter its adversaries across the region.
Abdi Latif Dahir is a Middle East correspondent for The Times, covering Lebanon and Syria. He is based in Beirut.
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