Yemen's Houthi Rebels Open New Front in Iran War with Missile Strikes on Israel

Yemen's Houthi rebels entered the U.S.-Israel war on Iran on Saturday, March 28, 2026, launching two waves of missile and drone attacks on Israel within fewer than 24 hours, opening a new front in a conflict now in its fifth week and deepening fears of a broader regional catastrophe. The Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said the group fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at "sensitive Israeli military sites" in southern Israel, followed by a second wave of cruise missiles and drones. The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen and reported no casualties or damage from the strikes. Saree vowed in a televised speech to continue military operations until Israel "ceases its attacks and aggression." The Houthi entry came even as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington expected to conclude military operations within "weeks, not months," a statement he made before the Houthi attacks began. The war, which started on February 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, has now killed more than and triggered what multiple outlets described as the largest disruption to global energy supplies in history.

Hormuz closure and Bab al-Mandeb now both under threat The Houthi entry into the conflict has raised acute alarm over the fate of two of the world's most critical maritime chokepoints. Iran has virtually closed the Strait of Hormuz, which carries roughly a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, since the war began. The Houthis now threaten the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, through which about 12% of world trade typically passes, including oil, natural gas, grain, and consumer goods. Saudi Arabia had been rerouting millions of barrels of crude oil per day through Bab al-Mandeb after the Hormuz closure, making the strait doubly critical. Ahmed Nagi, a senior Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group, warned that Houthi attacks on commercial shipping would push up oil prices and destabilize "all of maritime security," adding that "the impact would not be limited to the energy market." Farea Al-Muslimi, a research fellow at the Chatham House think tank, called the Houthi decision to join the conflict "a serious and deeply concerning escalation," warning that vital economic and military infrastructure across the Gulf region could become increasingly exposed. Between November 2023 and January 2025, Houthi rebels attacked more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two, in support of Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war, demonstrating their capacity to sustain a prolonged maritime campaign.

Key escalations in the Iran war: — ; — ; — ; —

Marines land as Pentagon weighs ground troop options Washington dispatched two contingents of Marines to the Middle East, the first of which arrived on Friday aboard an amphibious assault ship, the U.S. military confirmed. About 2,500 U.S. Marines reached the region, and the Pentagon is also expected to deploy thousands of soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division. Rubio said on Friday that the United States could achieve its objectives without ground troops but acknowledged the deployments were intended to give President Donald Trump "maximum" flexibility to adjust strategy as needed. The Washington Post reported that U.S. officials said the Pentagon was preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, possibly involving raids by Special Operations and conventional infantry troops, though whether Trump would approve such plans remained uncertain. Iran struck Prince Sultan airbase in Saudi Arabia on Friday, wounding 12 U.S. military personnel, two of them seriously, in what multiple outlets described as one of the most serious breaches of U.S. air defenses in the conflict. Drones also struck Kuwait international airport on Saturday, causing significant damage to its radar system, while air defenses shot down a drone near the residence of Masoud Barzani, leader of the Iraqi Kurdish ruling party, in Erbil. The U.S. said it has struck more than , though intelligence sources cited by Reuters said Washington could only be certain it had destroyed a third of Iran's missile and drone arsenal.

„We are on or ahead of schedule and military operations are expected to be concluded within weeks, not months.” — Marco Rubio via Reuters

Pakistan hosts diplomats as battlefield spreads across region Diplomatic efforts advanced on the margins of the conflict, with Pakistan hosting a meeting of foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt on Sunday and Monday to seek a regional approach to ending the fighting. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ahead of the talks, according to multiple reports. However, the talks did not appear to include any of the warring parties directly, casting doubt on their immediate effectiveness. There was no sign of a diplomatic breakthrough as of Sunday morning. On the battlefield, Israel carried out a wave of strikes on Tehran on Saturday, targeting what its military described as Iranian government infrastructure sites, including ballistic missile production and storage facilities, aerial defense systems, and temporary command centers. Three Lebanese journalists from Al Manar TV were killed in an Israeli strike on a media vehicle in Lebanon, along with one Lebanese soldier; a follow-up Israeli strike on rescue workers sent to assist them also caused fatalities. Israel's military said it had targeted one of the journalists, accusing him of being part of a Hezbollah intelligence unit and saying he had reported on the locations of Israeli soldiers. Syria's assistant defense minister reported that his country's forces repelled drone attacks launched from Iraqi territory targeting U.S. bases at Qasrak and al-Tanf, while Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they launched missile and drone strikes on aluminum plants. The Iranian Ministry of Health announced that 1,937 people had been killed on the Iranian side since the start of the conflict, including 230 children, with Iran's Red Crescent Society reporting that U.S.-Israeli strikes had damaged more than 93,000 civilian properties.

The Houthis, who have controlled Yemen's capital Sanaa and much of the country's north since 2014, have fought a civil war against the internationally recognized Yemeni government backed by a Saudi-led coalition. The group previously launched sustained attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea between November 2023 and January 2025 in solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war, attacking more than 100 merchant vessels and sinking two. That campaign forced major shipping firms to reroute vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, significantly increasing costs and disrupting global supply chains, as they did again in 2024 and 2025. The Houthis are a core component of Iran's so-called "Axis of Resistance," which also includes Hezbollah in Lebanon and militant groups in Iraq and the Palestinian territories.