The Houthis in Yemen planned to carry out massive attacks on American warships and Israeli ports, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing the Iranian terror proxy group and European officials.
The attacks would have come in response to last month’s targeting killing of Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Israeli strikes on terror targets in the Houthi-controlled port city of Hodeidah in Yemen.
Israel’s aerial assault on Hodeidah appeared to be the first on Yemeni soil since the terrorist group joined the war against Israel in support of Hamas last year. It came in retaliation for a deadly Houthi drone attack that killed an Israeli man and wounded four others in Tel Aviv.
The Houthis for months have been harassing commercial shipping in the Red Sea and launching drones and missiles at Israel.
According to the WSJ report, the Houthis and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq are itching for a more aggressive approach to Israel and American forces in the region. This is causing concern in Tehran, as it tries to find a way to respond to the Haniyeh assassination without provoking direct Israeli attacks on its soil that the Americans are warning could have devastating consequences for the regime.
