The Israel Defense Forces is prepared for the possibility of missile and drone attacks from Iran’s terrorist proxies across the Middle East, IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin told reporters on Saturday night.
“We have been in a multi-front war for nearly two and a half years,” said Defrin in response to a question from Israel’s Channel 14 during a press briefing. “We are prepared for anything and are watching closely, both in the near and distant arenas [of the war],” he added.
“We will respond forcefully to anyone who harms us,” he vowed.
Asked if the IDF expects the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists to join the war from Yemen, Defrin again stressed that the Jewish state’s military has become “accustomed to operating in a multi-front war.”
The Houthis joined the Gaza-based Hamas terror group in attacking the Jewish state following the latter’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, firing ballistic missiles and drones that killed one and wounded dozens.
“We’re prepared for the possibility of firing from other countries,” he told reporters. “Yemen is not new to us—we’ve responded with force there in the past when required, and we will do so again if necessary.”
The IDF launched preemptive airstrikes against the Islamic Republic on Saturday morning to neutralize the threat Tehran poses to the Jewish state, according to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.
Iran subsequently fired many dozens of ballistic missiles at the Jewish state, killing one and wounding several, with sirens continuing to blare across the country on Sunday morning.
In a statement posted to Truth Social announcing the start of “major combat operations” against the Islamic regime, U.S. President Donald Trump said that his objective was “to defend the American people” by neutralizing the “imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people.” Its “menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas and our allies throughout the world.”
