A drone launched by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia struck an open area in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on Tuesday morning, according to the military. The impact caused no injuries but sparked a fire.
Late last month, Israeli Air Force fighter jets carried out dozens of airstrikes on Houthi targets around Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah, including power plants and a seaport.
The port was “used by the Houthis to transfer Iranian weapons to the region, in addition to military supplies and oil,” according to the Israel Defense Forces.
“The Houthis have been operating under the direction and funding of Iran, and in cooperation with Iraqi militias, in order to attack the State of Israel, undermine regional stability and disrupt global freedom of navigation,” the IDF added.
Yemen’s Houthi militia, aka Ansar Allah, an Iranian proxy force, has launched numerous attacks on the Jewish state in support of Hamas in the wake of the Palestinian terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023 invasion of southern Israel.
On Sept. 15, Israeli air defenses intercepted fragments of a surface-to-surface missile launched from Yemen that exploded over central Israel.
In July, a Houthi suicide drone killed an Israeli civilian in central Tel Aviv, in response to which Israel struck Hodeidah port in a major attack.
