Yemen's Houthis have entered the war on the side of Iran

Yemen's Houthis have claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on Israel and vowed to continue operations until strikes against Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon stop, The Wall Street Journal reports.

On the morning of March 28, the Israeli military reported that a rocket had been launched from Yemen toward Israel and that air defenses had "intercepted the threat."

This is Israel's first attack by the Iranian-backed Houthis since the war began, the WSJ notes. They have so far refrained from entering the conflict, but have recently stepped up their rhetoric, warning of a possible response if the U.S. and Israel do not end the war.

The actions of the Husis expand the war to a new front and may create additional problems for the global oil market, Bloomberg writes. Since the war between Israel and Hamas began in late 2023, they have stepped up attacks on ships in the Red Sea with rockets and drones. Their operations have virtually paralyzed shipping in the region, forcing ships to make a nearly two-week detour around South Africa and incur additional costs.

So far, the Houthis have not declared their intention to attack tankers or other vessels passing through the southern Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but they have such a possibility, Bloomberg notes. In addition, the Saudi port of Yanbu, which the kingdom uses to bypass the Strait of Hormuz for oil exports, is within range of the Houthis' missiles, the agency writes.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor