It's Houthis' turn: Israel and US launches large-scale military operations to eliminate group

The Yemen-based Houthi militant group said it fired a ballistic missile at the Tel Aviv area in central Israel, an attack that prompted air raid sirens to sound but caused no damage.
Israel’s military said it intercepted the missile before it crossed into Israeli territory.
The missile was the second in the span of two days launched by the Houthis and the latest in a campaign they say is in solidarity with the Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
In addition to launching missiles at Israel, the Houthis have also disrupted the key shipping routes in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden with attacks against ships.
Israeli officials have become more direct in their rhetoric toward the Houthis in recent days, pledging to take action against the Iran-backed group.
The fall of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad earlier in December has set millions of Yemenis thinking about what lies in store for their own country.
Some say the fall of the Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen – who control Sanaa and much of northern and western Yemen – may be the “next surprise” in the region.
Al-Assad’s defeat feels personal to Houthi supporters who see themselves as part of a broader, Iran-led, “axis of resistance” to Israel and the United States.
Under al-Assad, Syria was considered a key part of the axis and a route for the transfer of weapons between Iran, Iraq and Lebanon.The Houthis, who held an armed takeover of Sanaa in September 2014 and then, in 2015, forced out the internationally-recognised government, are part of Iran’s ‘axis of resistance’, which includes the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, the Popular Mobilisation Forces in Iraq, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. The former Syrian government was also considered part of the axis.
The Houthi takeover prompted a war as the ousted government and regional allies – led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – tried to wrest back control of Yemen.
Recall, houthi group threatened to target US interests in the Middle East if strikes on Yemen persist.
Houthi Supreme Political Council Member Mohammed Ali al-Houthi issued a stark warning to Washington: "We caution Americans against targeting Yemen. If they do not stop, we will strike US interests in the region, ignoring any red lines," said al-Houthi. "Either Israel’s attacks on Gaza and Yemen will cease, or we will target sensitive American assets to deliver our message."
The message came after the Houthis claimed to have shot down a US F-18 fighter jet in an attack on an aircraft carrier in the Red Sea.
It said the operation "was carried out using eight cruise missiles and 17 drones, resulting in the downing of an F-18 fighter jet while the destroyers attempted to intercept the Yemeni drones and missiles."