Yemen Monitor/Newsroom:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel will continue to act against the Houthi group in Yemen, accusing them of threatening global navigation and the international order.
In a video statement released by his office, a day after a missile launched from Yemen fell in Tel Aviv area causing several minor injuries, he added, “Just as we acted forcefully against the terrorist arms of the Iranian axis of evil, so too will we act forcefully against the Houthis.”
This comes amid talk by Israeli security officials yesterday, Saturday, about Tel Aviv’s readiness to launch another attack in Yemen, involving other countries, after its defense system failed yesterday, Saturday, to intercept another ballistic missile launched from Yemen that fell in Tel Aviv, injuring 30 people and damaging dozens of apartments in the area.
The Israeli newspaper Maariv reported that the Israeli Air Force is preparing to retaliate for the attacks launched by the Houthi group in recent days, but is facing difficulty in gathering intelligence that would enable it to reach Houthi missile depots in Yemen.
The newspaper added in a report that the Israeli military intelligence is focusing its activity on monitoring a group of military and strategic Houthi targets in Yemen.
It said that “the Israeli army and the security establishment recognize that the problem of fighting a terrorist organization like the Houthis is particularly complex, due to the difficulty of gathering intelligence about the tribal leaders at the head of the organization, as well as the difficulty of reaching missile depots, and the inadequacy of bombing facilities in ports and fuel barrels.”
The newspaper explained that the missile that Israel failed to intercept on Saturday, which fell in Tel Aviv (center), was a developed version of the Iranian-made “Khaybar” missile, and said that the amount of explosive material in the missile warhead was reduced, in exchange for adding more solid fuel to improve the missile’s range and speed directly, after exiting the atmosphere.
Earlier today, the Israeli Air Force, in the results of an investigation into its failure to intercept the missile launched by the Houthis, said that the missile fell in Tel Aviv due to a malfunction in the interceptor missile, and not in the air defense system itself, according to Israel’s private Channel 12.
The Israeli Air Force said that “the fears that the Houthi missile was equipped with a warhead capable of maneuvering were ruled out,” after fears emerged that the missile’s warhead was a maneuvering warhead, meaning that its engine changes its course, making it difficult to detect and intercept, according to the same source.
But according to the latest investigation, a malfunction occurred in the “Hetz (Arrow)” missile that was launched to intercept the ballistic missile in the upper layer above the atmosphere, according to Channel 12.
