The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen fired another ballistic missile at Israel on Sunday morning, in a gesture of defiance against President-elect Donald Trump and despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Sirens were activated across a wide swath of central Israel once the missile was detected:
The Houthi rebels evidently claimed they had launched a “hypoersonic” missile, but given that hypersonic missiles are an advanced technology possessed by very few countries, and are almost impossible to intercept, that seems unlikely.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement: “Following the sirens that sounded between 06:21-06:22 in the areas of the Shfela, Lakhish and the Yarkon, one projectile launched from Yemen was intercepted by the IAF [Israeli Air Force] prior to its crossing into Israeli territory.”
Israel has faced a war on seven fronts — Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Iran, and the West Bank — and only the Lebanese front is quiet, for now, as the result of a ceasefire that represented a victory for Israel over Hezbollah.
Israel is still fighting in Gaza, where Hamas holds 101 Israeli hostages. And despite Israeli responses, the Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen continue to launch missiles.
President Joe Biden removed the Houthis from a terrorism list upon taking office in 2021, reversing an action by President Donald Trump, who returns to office in less than two months but who has already had an impact on the Middle East.
Trump’s election arguably encouraged the ceasefire in Lebanon, and has apparently prompted Hamas to seek new negotiations on a ceasefire and hostage deal. Iran has also said that it called off a planned third ballistic missile attack on Israel due to Trump’s openness to negotiations.
However, Iran is still determined to show that its proxies are undeterred, and has not stopped the Houthis from attacking Israel. The rebel group also still poses a threat to international shipping through the Red Sea.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
Photo: file
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