Yemen's Houthi Rebels Enter Regional War with Ballistic Missile Attack on Israel

Yemen's Houthi rebels fired a ballistic missile at Israel on Saturday, March 28, marking their formal entry into the regional war that began four weeks earlier when the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Israeli military said it intercepted the missile, and no casualties or damage were reported in Israel. Brigadier General Yahya Saree, the military spokesman for the Houthi movement, broadcast a statement on the group's Al-Masirah satellite television network confirming the attack and describing the targets as "sensitive Israeli military sites" in southern Israel. Saree said the operation was coordinated with Iran-backed fighters in Lebanon and declared that Houthi operations would continue until what he called aggression across all fronts ends. The attack came hours after Saree had signaled on Friday that the group would join the war, telling reporters that "zero hour will be set by the leadership."

Analysts warn of Red Sea disruption and interceptor stockpile strain The Houthi entry into the conflict drew immediate concern from analysts over two compounding risks: potential disruption to Red Sea shipping and additional pressure on Israel's missile interceptor stockpiles. Farea al-Muslimi, a Yemen analyst at Chatham House, described the development as a serious and deeply concerning escalation. „The decision by the Houthis to join the broader Middle East conflict marks a serious and deeply concerning escalation. Their involvement risks widening an already volatile war, with significant implications for regional stability, global trade and humanitarian conditions, particularly in Yemen.” — Farea al-Muslimi via Financial Times News Al-Muslimi added that the potential impact on the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait could not be overstated. The Houthis have so far refrained from attacking Red Sea shipping routes in the current conflict, but any resumption of such attacks would disrupt traffic through the Suez Canal, through which roughly 10 percent of global maritime trade passes annually, including 40 percent of container ship traffic, according to The Independent. Saudi Arabia has already diverted a large share of its oil exports to the Red Sea port of Yanbu to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has largely blocked since the start of the war, driving energy prices to multi-year highs.

Iranian strikes hit Gulf states as war enters fifth week The broader conflict continued to expand across the Gulf region as the war entered its fifth week, with Iranian strikes hitting multiple countries overnight into Saturday. Iran fired rockets at Israel in several waves of attacks, killing one person, with cluster munitions and debris from intercepted rockets causing impacts in the greater Tel Aviv area, according to Handelsblatt. Twelve US soldiers were injured, two of them seriously, in an Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Airbase in Saudi Arabia, according to a report cited by Der Tagesspiegel. Authorities in Kuwait reported that drones attacked Kuwait City's airport, causing significant damage to the radar system, though no injuries were reported. In the United Arab Emirates, fires broke out in an industrial zone after Iranian missiles and drones struck, injuring five people, while the media office of Abu Dhabi reported fires from falling rocket parts and six injuries. Two drones attacked the port of Salalah in Oman, injuring a foreign worker, and Iran's military separately claimed to have targeted a US logistics vessel near the same port. Iran also claimed to have struck a drone warehouse in Dubai containing over 20 Ukrainians, but Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi called the allegation a lie, according to Ukraine's public broadcaster.

The Houthi movement, officially known as Ansar Allah, emerged from Yemen in the 1990s as a Zaydi revivalist and Shia Islamist organization. The group seized control of northern Yemen, including the capital Sana'a, in 2015, prompting a Saudi-led Arab coalition to intervene in Yemen's civil war. Between November 2023 and January 2025, during Israel's war on Gaza, the Houthis attacked over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two, and severely disrupted Red Sea shipping for approximately two years. The group survived multiple US and Israeli bombing campaigns targeting its military infrastructure and leadership during that period. A fragile truce between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis has been in place for the past four years, and Saudi Arabia had been edging toward a broader agreement with the group before the current regional war erupted.

Pakistan hosts Gulf diplomacy as Witkoff signals Iran talks Diplomatic efforts to contain the conflict advanced on multiple tracks on Saturday, with Pakistan convening regional talks and the United States signaling potential negotiations with Iran. Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar invited the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey to consultations in Islamabad on Sunday and Monday, with the Egyptian Foreign Ministry saying the talks would focus on the latest escalation in the region. Pakistan, which shares approximately 900 kilometers of border with Iran, has positioned itself as a potential mediator since the war spread to the Gulf states. US special envoy Steve Witkoff held out the prospect of talks with Iran later in the week, with discussions centered on Iran's response to a 15-point US plan for ending the war. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, meanwhile, issued a warning to neighboring countries on the X platform, writing that if they wanted development and security, they should not allow enemies to wage the war from their soil. Iranian President Pezeshkian also threatened retaliatory strikes against neighbors if Iran's infrastructure and economic centers were attacked. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in the Gulf region for talks with leaders of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar as the diplomatic activity intensified.

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