UNITED STATES — A Houthi spokesman in Yemen announced Saturday that they have increased their operations in the Iran conflict after carrying out the group’s first direct military operation against Israel, targeting a ballistic missile site in southern-occupied Palestine.
The announcement was delivered by Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree and broadcast on Al Jazeera, coming shortly after the group declared its support for Iran and separatist groups in the region. It also appears as ongoing military escalation and attacks throughout the Middle East continue during Operation Epic Fury.
The statement marks the first time the group has claimed a ballistic missile strike on Israeli territory.
In an official statement on X that was dedicated to ‘Allah the Almighty’, Saree spoke from a podium flanked by the Yemeni flag and confirmed the launch in a live address from Yemen’s capital, Sana’a.
He proceeded to detail the operation as “the first military operation in a salvo of ballistic missiles targeting sensitive military objectives of the Israeli enemy in southern occupied Palestine.”
The broadcast message explicitly ties the development to “direct military intervention in support and backing of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the resistance fronts in Lebanon, Iraq, and Palestine.” The group’s efforts were advertised to be executed by the network’s “mujahid brothers in Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.”
Despite the announcement, no specific targets were mentioned in the statement out of Sara’a on Saturday. The announcement also lacked any evidence as video footage, photographs, or locations, consistent with the group’s public communications team.
The statement concluded with a pledge for continued action: ““Our operations, with the aid of Allah the Almighty, will continue until the declared objectives are realized, as stated in the previous statement of the Armed Forces, and until the aggression against all resistance fronts ceases.” Saree then declared, “Our operations will continue till we achieve all the announced and declared objectives until the aggression against all the fronts of resistance will stop.”
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The statement was dated “Sana’a, the ninth of Shawwal 1447 AH, Corresponding to 28 March 2026 CE” and is an official statement from the Yemeni Armed Forces. It also references a previous statement from the same group, outlining their intent to intervene militarily in support of Iran and the large-scale resistance network abroad.
The recent conflict development, outlines the Houthis’ declared alignment with Tehran’s former regime during a time of sustained military operations in the region.
Notwithstanding the complete success declared, Saree’s address also noted a brief Israeli interception of the missile, but conveniently omitted details before declaring overall operation victory.
While the Yemeni Armed Forces frame the strike as a defensive response to perceived aggression, the event represents the group’s loyalty to Iran and its involvement in actions expanding beyond shipping disruptions in the Red Sea.
