Iran War Live Updates: Iran-Backed Houthis Enter War With Missile Attack on Israel

Iran missile attack Israel: Houthis fire ballistic missile at Negev desert base

Muhammad Asghar | GlobalBeat

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels launched their first ballistic missile into Israeli territory early Tuesday, striking an army base in the Negev desert.

The missile travelled 1,600 km from north Yemen to reach southern Israel.

The attack opens a new southern front for Israel two weeks after Tehran fired 200 drones at Israeli targets and deepens the regional reach of what Washington now calls an “Iran war”. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his security cabinet within hours and warned that Israel’s response “will come and will hurt”.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group used a “new ballistic missile” called Palestine-2 that evaded Israeli defences. Israel’s army said air-raid sirens sounded at 3:42 a.m. local time and the projectile was “successfully intercepted” by the Arrow 3 system, though shrapnel damaged a military facility and injured one soldier.

Footage from Beersheba showed a glowing trail arcing across the pre-dawn sky followed by a flash. The Magen David Adom ambulance service treated the 32-year-old soldier for shrapnel wounds to his hand and transferred him to Soroka Medical Center in moderate condition.

Netanyahu’s office released a statement vowing that “anyone who attacks Israel will pay a full price”. Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told reporters the missile strike “proves Iran is using Yemen as a forward base” and that Israel “has the means to reach every point on the map”. Gallant did not specify whether retaliation would target Yemen, Iran, or both.

The Houthis have fired dozens of drones and cruise missiles at Israel since November, but all were shot down over the Red Sea. Tuesday’s launch is the first to penetrate Israeli air space and strike land. Israeli analysts said the trajectory crossed Saudi Arabia, suggesting Riyadh chose not to activate its Patriot batteries, a silence that will anger Washington.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby condemned the attack and confirmed that American destroyers in the Red Sea “assisted tracking” but did not fire interceptors. President Donald Trump, speaking to Fox News, said “Iran is behind this 100 percent” and warned Tehran to “watch what you ask for”. Trump last week authorised B-2 stealth bomber strikes on Iranian-backed sites in Syria and Iraq after US personnel were injured.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately comment, but the Revolutionary Guards-linked Tasnim news agency hailed the strike as “Yemen’s entry into the battle for al-Quds”. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, on a regional tour that concluded in Beirut Monday night, told reporters that “resistance fronts act independently” when asked about Houthi operations.

Oil prices jumped 4.2 percent to $77.40 a barrel on news of the attack, while shipping giant Maersk announced it would pause Red Sea transits for 48 hours. The Baltic Dry Index measuring freight costs has risen 28 percent since 1 March as insurers impose war-risk premiums of up to $200,000 per vessel.

Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis, a Zaydi-Shiite movement, seized Sanaa and ousted the internationally recognised government. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 but failed to dislodge the rebels. UN officials estimate that more than 370,000 people have died, many from indirect causes such as famine and disease.

Israel and the Houthis have no shared border, yet the rebels adopted the Palestinian cause in late 2023 after Hamas’s 7 October assault. The Houthis have since declared they will target any ship bound for Israel transiting the Bab al-Mandeb strait, through which 12 percent of global trade passes. US and British naval forces have shot down dozens of Houthi drones and missiles, but Tuesday’s launch shows the threat persists.

Sarea, reading from a statement on the Houthis’ al-Masirah TV, claimed the missile “hit its target precisely” and promised “more strikes until the aggression on Gaza stops”. Gaza health officials say Israeli operations have killed more than 48,000 Palestinians since the war began 17 months ago. Israel says it aims to dismantle Hamas and return 63 hostages still held by the group.

Saudi officials privately expressed alarm at the launch. Two diplomats in Riyadh told GlobalBeat that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Laden (often referred to by his initials MBS) warned visiting US envoy Steve Witkoff last week that further Houthi escalation could push Saudi Arabia to reopen airfields used during the 2015 campaign. The kingdom signed a Chinese-brokered détente with Iran in 2023 and has sought to avoid direct entanglement in the Gaza conflict.

Humanitarian agencies inside Yemen fear Israeli retaliation could halt the fragile flow of food and fuel into Hodeidah port, the entry point for 70 percent of the country’s commercial goods. “Another closure would push millions to the brink,” said a spokesman for the World Food Programme who asked not to be named because he lacked authorisation to speak publicly.

The Israeli military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, told a briefing that the Arrow 3 interception “proved the multilayered defence works” but conceded “one fragment got through”. He said engineers were examining the debris to determine whether Palestine-2 incorporates Iranian components. Israeli intelligence believes Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organisation helped the Houthis extend the missile’s range from 1,200 km to 1,600 km in recent months.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called for “maximum restraint” and urged “all regional actors to avoid further escalation”. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned the “reckless Houthi attack” and said London “stands ready to support Israel’s security”. France deployed the amphibious carrier Tonnerre to the Red Sea last week; its jets have flown reconnaissance missions alongside US aircraft.

An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the cabinet was weighing three response options: a limited strike on Houthi radar sites, a broader campaign against Iranian supply lines in Syria and Iraq, or covert action inside Yemen itself. The official said Netanyahu favours a message that “Iranian tentacles will be severed one by one” but wants to avoid dragging Israel into a second front while fighting continues in Gaza and against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Background

The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, emerged in the 1990s as a revivalist movement among Yemen’s Zaydi minority who feared encroachment by Sunni Islamists. After seizing Sanaa in 2014 they forged closer ties with Iran, which began supplying drones, missiles and training. UN experts say Tehran’s support transformed the Houthis from a local insurgency into a force capable of hitting oil facilities deep inside Saudi Arabia. Israel accuses Iran of building a “ring of fire” around it through proxies in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and now Yemen.

Israel’s multilayered air-defence system includes Iron Dome for short-range rockets, David’s Sling for cruise missiles, and Arrow 2/3 for ballistic threats. Tuesday’s interception was Arrow 3’s first operational success against a Houthi missile, but defence analysts warn the system could be overwhelmed if the rebels launch salvos. Each Arrow 3 interceptor costs $3 million; Israel currently has fewer than 100 in stock, according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

What’s Next

Netanyahu must decide by Thursday whether to authorise a counterstrike, Israeli radio reported. The UN Security Council will hold an emergency session on Wednesday at Washington’s request, while Houthi leaders warn they have “dozens more missiles ready”. Shipping insurers are set to review war-risk zones that could raise costs for Asia-Europe trade routes already disrupted by Gaza-related tensions.

The attack underscores how Gaza’s war is reverberating across the region. Whether Israel responds inside Yemen or against Iran itself, analysts predict the cycle of reprisal is far from over. “We should expect more missiles, more drones, and a wider theatre of operations,” said Yoel Guzansky, a former Israeli National Security Council official. “No one is putting out the fire, they are just pouring fuel.”