Yemen’s Houthis Launch First Missile Attack on Israel as Middle East War Expands

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have fired their first missile attack targeting Israel since the Middle East conflict began one month ago. The group claims they struck sensitive military installations in southern Israel, though Israeli forces say they intercepted the incoming missile.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants have launched their inaugural missile strike against Israel, marking a significant expansion of the month-old Middle East conflict.

The rebel group’s military spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, announced the attack through a Saturday broadcast on the Houthis’ Al-Masirah television network. According to Saree, the militants launched multiple ballistic missiles aimed at what he termed “sensitive Israeli military sites” located in Israel’s southern region.

Israeli defense forces confirmed they successfully intercepted the incoming projectile.

This assault follows Saree’s cryptic Friday announcement suggesting the rebel faction would enter the ongoing war.

The strike represents the first time Yemen has targeted Israel since hostilities erupted last month. Previously, Houthi forces disrupted Red Sea shipping lanes during the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts continue as foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt plan to gather in Islamabad on Sunday for peace negotiations, according to Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.

Iran’s military command headquarters made unsubstantiated claims through state-controlled media regarding Ukrainian personnel.

The Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters alleged more than 20 Ukrainians were present in a United Arab Emirates warehouse with unknown status.

However, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi dismissed the Iranian assertions as false during a press conference, as reported by Ukraine’s national broadcaster.

These allegations surface while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy conducts regional discussions with leaders from Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar.

The Houthis have maintained restraint regarding Red Sea shipping attacks, though such actions would severely impact global commerce and economic stability.

Potential Houthi strikes on Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait shipping would interrupt Suez Canal traffic, a vital passage for oil, gas and commercial cargo bound for the Mediterranean.

Approximately 10 percent of worldwide maritime commerce, including 40 percent of container vessel traffic, passes through this canal annually.

Such disruptions would force ships to navigate around Africa’s southern coast, increasing insurance expenses and delaying cargo deliveries. This could also affect Saudi oil shipments to Asia through the Red Sea’s Yanbu port.

Between November 2023 and January 2025, Houthi forces targeted more than 100 commercial ships using missiles and drones, sinking two vessels.

Israeli military officials stated that one journalist killed in Saturday’s southern Lebanon strike was targeted as a suspected Hezbollah intelligence operative, though they provided no supporting evidence.

Israel’s statement regarding Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV reporter Ali Shoeib echoed previous military accusations against Palestinian journalists during the Hamas conflict.

The Israeli army alleged that Shoeib, a prominent Lebanese war correspondent, was “systematically working to reveal locations of Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon.” They also accused him of maintaining Hezbollah contacts and inciting against Israeli forces and civilians, without providing details.

Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV confirmed its reporter Fatima Ftouni died in the same airstrike alongside Shoeib. Israeli military statements did not reference her death.

Al-Manar TV did not address the Israeli allegations but reported his death in the airstrike, describing him as known for “professional and credible event reporting.”

Seven individuals sustained injuries in an Iranian missile strike on central Israel, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service on Saturday.

Some victims were wounded by the explosion’s impact in Eshtaol, near Jerusalem, while others were injured while seeking shelter.

Iran expressed skepticism about recent diplomatic peace efforts during a Saturday phone conversation between its Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Turkish counterpart.

Iranian state media reported that Araghchi criticized the U.S. for making “unreasonable demands” and displaying “contradictory actions” that undermined agreement prospects.

He stated recent U.S. actions have created “increased pessimism” on Iran’s part, without specifying particular moves.

The Iranian summary indicated Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Araghchi that “Iran’s pessimism toward the other side is understandable because Iran has twice been subjected to attack and military aggression in the midst of negotiations.”

The United Arab Emirates reported its air defense systems countered 20 ballistic missiles and 37 drone strikes on Saturday.

These attacks injured six people in an Abu Dhabi industrial area, where authorities reported three fires.

The UAE’s Defense Ministry documented 413 missile and 1,872 drone attacks since the war began. These assaults have resulted in 10 deaths, including two military personnel, and wounded 178 others.

Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV confirmed correspondent Ali Shoeib’s death Saturday in southern Lebanon, while Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV reported reporter Fatima Ftouni died in the same strike.

Shoeib was a well-recognized war correspondent who had covered southern Lebanon for Al-Manar for nearly three decades.

Ftouni had delivered a live report from southern Lebanon moments before the strike in the Jezzine area.

This attack occurred days after an Israeli strike on a central Beirut apartment killed Mohammed Sherri, Al-Manar TV’s political programming director, along with his wife.

A U.S. aircraft carrier has docked in Croatia while en route to the Middle East during the monthlong U.S. and Israeli conflict with Iran.

The U.S. 6th Fleet announced the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, anchored at Croatia’s Port of Split following its Adriatic Sea journey from Greece’s Souda Bay, where it underwent repairs and refueling.

The carrier previously docked at the American naval facility at Souda Bay last month, prompting protests on Crete before U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran that initiated the war.

Kuwait’s Mubarak Al Kabeer and Shuwaikh ports suffered damage from drone and missile attacks within the past day, the Defense Ministry announced Saturday.

Ministry officials said forces responded to four ballistic missiles, one cruise missile, and seven drones that targeted the oil-rich nation in the past 24 hours.

No casualties were reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the UAE and met with Emirati leader Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss Middle East regional security.

“For Ukraine, this is also a matter of principle: terror must not prevail anywhere in the world. Protection must be sufficient everywhere,” Zelenskyy posted on X following his meeting. He said they discussed “the security situation in the Emirates, Iranian strikes, and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which directly affects the global oil market.”

The Emirates News Agency reported both leaders discussed “security developments in the region amid ongoing military escalation and their implications for regional and international peace and security, as well as their impact on international navigation and the global economy.”

Zelenskyy announced last week that Kyiv is assisting five Middle East and Gulf nations — the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan — in defending against drone attacks.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Saturday he conducted “extensive discussions” with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian regarding ongoing regional conflicts and peace efforts.

Pezeshkian received briefings on Pakistan’s diplomatic initiatives led by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir to engage the United States and Gulf and Islamic nations in creating conditions for peace talks, according to Sharif’s office.

Sharif expressed optimism that “a viable path toward ending hostilities could be found collectively” during their hour-long conversation.

Pezeshkian commended Pakistan’s peace initiatives, emphasizing the importance of building trust to enable dialogue and mediation.

Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will participate in Sunday talks in Islamabad aimed at ending the conflict, Dar confirmed.

Bahrain, home to the U.S. 5th Fleet, reported Saturday that its air defense systems responded to 20 missile and 23 drone attacks in the previous 24 hours.

This brings the total projectiles fired at the Shiite-majority nation to 174 missiles and 385 drones since the Middle East war began on February 28.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz strongly criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s approach to the Iran conflict, according to dpa news agency reports.

“What Trump is doing right now is not de-escalation and an attempt to reach a peaceful solution, but a massive escalation with an uncertain outcome,” Merz said Friday evening at a Frankfurt event.

“These are escalations that are threatening,” he added. “Not only for those directly affected, but for all of us.”

Merz also questioned whether the current Iranian leadership could be overthrown through warfare. “Is regime change really the goal?” he asked. “If that is the goal, I don’t think they will achieve it. That has usually gone wrong.”

An airstrike struck Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant grounds just before midnight, the country’s atomic energy agency reported.

The strike, the third in 10 days, caused no material damage or casualties, according to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Officials said no technical disruption occurred at the facility.

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed Iran notified them of the strike.

An airstrike hit Iran’s University of Science and Technology in Tehran on Saturday, state-run IRNA news agency reported.

The strike damaged research and educational facilities, IRNA reported, citing the university’s public relations department.

Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will attend Islamabad talks aimed at ending the U.S.-Iran war and reducing regional tensions, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and officials announced Saturday.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty will arrive Sunday for a two-day visit to “hold in-depth discussions on a range of issues, including efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region,” according to an official statement.

The visiting ministers will meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who said in a televised address that Pakistan is pursuing “sincere and robust diplomatic efforts” to help end the conflict through mediation.

The casualty count from Saturday’s early morning missile attack in Abu Dhabi has increased to six.

The Abu Dhabi Media Office reported an additional Pakistani national was injured by falling debris near Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi when air defense systems intercepted a ballistic missile.

The attack sparked three fires in the area, which have been controlled.

Kuwait International airport was struck by drone attacks on Saturday, authorities confirmed.

The Civil Aviation Authority stated the attacks severely damaged the airport’s radar systems.

No casualties were reported.

An Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinian brothers Saturday morning in the Gaza Strip, hospital authorities reported.

The strike hit the men near the Showa roundabout in Gaza City’s Shijaiyah neighborhood, according to Al-Ahly hospital.

The location is near the so-called Yellow Line separating Israeli-controlled Gaza Strip areas from the remainder of the enclave.

Israel’s military did not immediately respond to comment requests.

More than two dozen U.S. troops have been wounded in Iranian attacks on a Saudi air base over the past week, according to two briefed sources.

Iran launched six ballistic missiles and 29 drones at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan air base in Friday’s attack, wounding at least 15 troops, including five seriously, according to sources unauthorized to comment publicly who spoke anonymously. U.S. officials initially reported at least 10 U.S. troops were injured, including two seriously wounded.

The base had been attacked twice earlier this week, including an incident injuring 14 U.S. troops, according to briefed sources.

Located approximately 96 kilometers from Saudi capital Riyadh, the base is operated by the Royal Saudi Air Force but also hosts U.S. troops.

Oman reported the strike hit Salalah port Saturday morning, wounding a foreign worker.

The government media office said the two-drone attack also damaged a crane.

Sirens sounded in Bahrain Saturday morning ahead of a potential attack, authorities reported.

The Interior Ministry urged residents to seek the nearest safe location.