Israel threatened Iranian leaders like never before on Thursday, stating it was ready to inflict on them what it did “to Hamas in Gaza,” four days after a missile was fired from Yemen on Tel Aviv, which the Jewish state holds Tehran responsible for.
“I warn (...) the Iranian leaders who finance, arm, and exploit the (Yemeni rebel) Houthi terrorist organization: the system of (your) proxies is over and the axis of evil has collapsed,” said Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in a statement.
“You are directly responsible. What we did to (the Lebanese Islamist movement) Hezbollah in Beirut, to (the Palestinian Islamist movement) Hamas in Gaza, (to the Syrian leader Bashar al-)Assad in Damascus, we will also do to you in Tehran,” he added.
Four days earlier, a missile fired by the Yemeni Houthi rebels, allies of the Islamic Republic, bypassed Israeli defense systems and hit the perimeter of Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport — an unprecedented event.
The attack caused a few injuries and minor property damage, resulting in a brief closure of the airport. Since then, most foreign airlines serving Tel Aviv have suspended their flights.
“Israel must be able to defend itself by its own means against any threat and any enemy. This has been true in facing numerous challenges in the past, and it will continue to be in the future,” Katz stated.
- Iranian nuclear issue -
According to him, Israel “will not allow any entity to harm us”: “anyone who attacks us will be hit hard.”
These threats also come as the United States under Donald Trump and Iran have engaged in direct dialogue on the Iranian nuclear issue, which is viewed unfavorably by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has made the Iranian threat his core concern for over two decades.
Israel is concerned about the progress of the Iranian nuclear program since Trump withdrew the United States in 2018 from the international agreement that was supposed to curb it.
Its leaders regularly state that they will not allow the Islamic Republic, which they view as an existential threat, to acquire nuclear weapons.
Tensions between Israel and Iran reached a boiling point in 2024 when Tehran attacked the Jewish state directly twice, targeting it with several hundred missiles or drones.
Iran argued that these attacks, largely countered by Israel with the help of Arab and Western countries, were a legitimate response to a strike on its consulate in Damascus attributed to Israel and to the assassination claimed by Israel, in Tehran, of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, and to the elimination of Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah — another ally of Iran — in an Israeli strike in Beirut.
- “Changing the Middle East” -
Katz’s threats also come two days after Oman announced a cease-fire agreement between the Houthis and Washington, to which Israel has not yet officially responded.
Since the war began with the unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the Houthis, claiming to act in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, have claimed dozens of missile and drone attacks on Israel.
They have also attacked ships they consider linked to Israel off the coast of Yemen, notably in the Red Sea, through which about 12% of global trade passes, before expanding their campaign by targeting ships linked to the United States and the United Kingdom in response to bombardments launched since January 2024 by these two countries in Yemen.
The Houthis have stated that the ceasefire with Washington does not apply to Israel and that they will continue to fire missiles on the country as long as the war in Gaza, where the Israeli army is preparing to launch a large-scale offensive, continues.
Since the October 7 attack, Israel feels more threatened than ever from all sides, and Netanyahu repeats that the country is fighting for its survival.
On October 9, 2023, the head of the government announced that the Israeli response would not be limited to the Gaza Strip but that it was nothing less than “changing the Middle East” to ensure the security of his country.