Yemen Monitor/Ma’rib/Exclusive:
David Barnea, the head of the Israeli Mossad, has called for a direct strike on Iran in response to Houthi attacks from Yemen, according to Israel’s Channel 13 on Sunday.
The channel reported that Barnea, the head of Israel’s foreign intelligence agency (Mossad), “called during high-level discussions within the Israeli political and security leadership for a direct strike on Iran in the wake of the Houthi attacks.”
Barnea added during the meetings, “We need to target the head, and hitting the Houthis alone will not be enough.”
Hebrew media reported that the Mossad chief’s statements reflect a “growing sense among Israeli officials that Iran, as the main organizer of regional threats, should bear direct responsibility for its actions.”
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would continue to act against the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, whom he accused of threatening global navigation and the international order, calling on Israelis to remain steadfast.
Netanyahu’s remarks came in a video statement a day after a missile launched from Yemen fell in Tel Aviv area, injuring 16 Israelis.
Israeli intelligence faces a significant challenge in Yemen, with their failure to obtain intelligence. As a result, they have started opening a school to teach the Yemeni dialect within the army intelligence branch, according to the Hebrew newspaper Maariv.
Israel launched an aggression against Yemen on Thursday, through a series of strikes against energy infrastructure and ports, in a move that Israel said was in response to hundreds of attacks by missiles and drones launched by the Houthis since the start of the Gaza war 14 months ago.
