Yemeni Houthi rebels boast about new weapons, threaten new attacks on Israel’s energy infrastructure

Last week’s deadly drone attack on Tel Aviv was the culmination of a series of boasts about alleged new weapons and technologies produced by the Yemeni Houthi rebels, who claimed they used their new “Jaffa” drone for the attack.

While the Israeli military estimated the drone was made in Iran and slightly altered to increase its range, this didn’t stop the terror group from threatening to launch fresh attacks on Israel, using their new technology, after Israel responded by striking the port of Hodeidah.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthis’ Supreme Revolutionary Committee told Al-Arabi TV: “There are several critical and sensitive targets in Israel that we will strike. We will announce our actions once they are carried out.”

On Tuesday, the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar, affiliated with Hezbollah – which has close ties to the Houthis – said it had obtained indications of which targets the Houthis intended to strike next.

According to the report, the large scale of Israel’s response pushed the Houthis to include energy infrastructure, such as Israel’s gas fields in the Mediterranean, its large power plants, oil reservoirs and supplies coming from the sea into its target bank.

Houthi sources said the group intends to cooperate closely in future operations against Israel, claiming the existence of a joint operations room with Iran’s so-called “Axis of Resistance,” which includes militia in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.

The group repeated its claim that the weapons intended to be used in this stage are sophisticated enough to evade Israel’s radars and aerial defense systems, such as the Arrow-3.

According to Ynet News, the Houthis receive significant weapons shipments from Iran, which then are modified to extend their range and increase their explosive power, before rebranding the weapons and claiming them as local productions.

In early June, the Houthis claimed to have attacked a “military target” in the Israeli city of Eilat using the “Palestine” missile, an ostensible long-range, solid-fuel missile developed in Yemen.

Another example is the Houthi “Toufan-1” drone boat, revealed in June, which was named after the Oct. 7 Hamas invasion and massacre, “Toufan al-Aqsa,” or “al-Aqsa Flood.”

Also in June, the Houthi terrorist group said it had used a new type of ballistic missile in an attack that damaged an Israeli ship in the Arabian Sea. Other recent claims include the “Hatem-2” hypersonic missile, and another advanced drone boat named “Flood of Destruction.”