Yemen's Houthi Rebels Enter West Asian War, Fires Missiles at Israeli Military Sites

The already fragile state of global maritime trade took a sharp turn for the worse on Saturday as Yemen's Houthi rebels formally entered the US-Israel war on Iran, firing a barrage of ballistic missiles at military sites in southern Israel — their first such strikes since the broader West Asian conflict erupted a month ago. The development threatens to add a second major maritime chokepoint to a crisis already centred on the Strait of Hormuz, raising fears of simultaneous disruptions to two corridors that together carry a disproportionate share of the world's energy and trade.

Brigadier-General Yahya Saree, the Houthis' military spokesperson, announced the missile attack on Saturday via the group's Al Masirah satellite channel, declaring that strikes would "continue until the declared objectives are achieved."

The Iran-backed Yemeni group had previously stayed out of the conflict even as other members of Tehran's Axis of Resistance — Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iraqi militias — had already joined the fighting.

A day before the strikes, the Houthis had laid out explicit "red lines," warning they would join the war if the Red Sea were used by the US or Israel to attack Iran, if other countries expanded their participation in the strikes on Iran, or if the campaign against the Axis of Resistance was escalated further.