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IDF mum on reports Houthis open front against Israel in Syria

After Oct. 7, the group’s leader said: “Our people are ready to move in the hundreds of thousands to join the Palestinian people and confront the enemy.”

Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen. Photo by Henry Ridgwell/VOA via Wikimedia Commons.
Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen. Photo by Henry Ridgwell/VOA via Wikimedia Commons.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Office offered “no comment” on Thursday regarding reports that Houthi fighters have deployed to southern Syria to open a new front against Israel using explosive drones.

“Brigade-sized forces belonging to Ansar Allah [the Houthis] were transferred to Syria via Jordan in small groups,” reported Russia’s RIA Novosti, quoting an anonymous source, on Sept. 13.

An unnamed Syrian source told i24 News on Sept. 11 that “the Houthis are entering Syria through Iraq. This is a relatively new thing.”

Last October, a few days after Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, leader of Yemen’s Houthi movement, said: “Our people are ready to move in the hundreds of thousands to join the Palestinian people and confront the enemy.”

He has made similar pronouncements in the past.

The Houthis first began employing drones in 2016. They have used them with increasing effectiveness.

In July, a Houthi drone flew from Yemen to central Tel Aviv, more than 1,400 miles, before exploding in a residential neighborhood a stone’s throw from the U.S. consulate. One Israeli was killed in the attack.

In response, Israel struck several military targets in the Yemen port city of Hodeidah.

The Houthis remain undeterred. On Sunday, they fired a surface-to-surface missile that exploded over central Israel. No injuries were reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu vowed that the Houthis would pay a “heavy price” for firing the projectile.

David Isaac, an expert on Jewish history, politics and current events, is an Israel bureau correspondent for JNS.
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