Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday threatened Yemen’s Houthi militia while lighting the menorah on the first night of Chanukah at his office in Jerusalem.
Attending the lighting were Orna and Ronen Neutra, the parents of Israel Defense Forces Capt. Omer Neutra, who was killed during Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel and whose body is being held by Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
“Today we are lighting the first candle of Chanukah to mark the victory of the Maccabees then, and also the victory of the Maccabees of today,” said Netanyahu.
“Like then, we are striking at our enemies.... The Houthis will also learn what Hamas, Hezbollah, the Assad regime and others have learned, and this will also take time. This lesson will be learned across the Middle East,” he added.
On Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened to target the Houthi leadership.
“I warned and said that just as we dealt with [recently eliminated Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar in Gaza, [Hamas political leader Ismail] Haniyeh in Tehran and [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah in Beirut, we will also deal with the heads of the Houthis in Sana’a and everywhere in Yemen,” said Katz.
Hours later, Israel’s Arrow 3 missile-defense system intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile. The missile was downed before crossing into Israeli air space, but sirens were triggered across much of central Israel due to the threat of falling shrapnel.
Seven people were injured attempting to reach a protected area in the greater Tel Aviv and Judean Foothills regions, while two people were treated for anxiety, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medical service.
Houthi terrorists have launched over 200 missiles and 170 drones at Israel in support of Hamas since the terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The terror group has escalated its attacks in recent days, scoring multiple hits on Israel’s densely populated central region.
Overnight Monday, a woman in her 60s was critically injured when she struck her head while rushing to a shelter in Tel Aviv during sirens triggered by another Houthi missile. MDA paramedics treated 25 people who were lightly hurt running to shelters or who suffered anxiety attacks.
Earlier on Monday, the IDF shot down an attack drone launched by Houthi terrorists before it crossed into Israeli territory.
Shortly before dawn last Thursday, the warhead from an intercepted missile hit an elementary school in Ramat Gan, collapsing the school’s main building but causing no injuries. Following a failed interception overnight Friday, a missile hit a playground in a residential area of Jaffa, lightly injuring 16 people.
The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency session next Monday to discuss the escalating Houthi attacks, at Israel’s request.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar sent a letter to the president of the Security Council, calling on U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield to convene the meeting regarding the Houthi threat.
In an X post accompanied by images of the letter, Sa’ar wrote that the reason for the meeting is “to condemn the Houthis’ attacks and Iran’s ongoing support for them.”
