Yemen’s Houthi rebels fire missile targeting northern Israel, rare target for group

Armed Houthi followers. Image used for representative purpose only.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched a missile early Wednesday (April 23, 2025) toward northern Israel, a rare target for the group as a monthlong intense U.S. airstrike campaign continues to target them.

Sirens sounded in Haifa, Krayot and other areas west of the Sea of Galilee, the Israeli Military said.

“An interceptor was launched toward the missile, and the missile was most likely successfully intercepted,” the Israeli Military said.

Those in the area could here booms in the predawn darkness.

The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack, though it can take them hours or even days to acknowledge their assaults.

American airstrikes, meanwhile, continued targeting the Houthis on Wednesday (April 23, 2025) morning, part of a campaign that began on March 15, 2025.

The Houthis reported strikes on Hodeida, Marib and Saada governorates. In Marib, the Houthis described a strike hitting telecommunication equipment, which has previously been a target of the Americans.

The U.S. military’s Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. is targeting the Houthis because of the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on Israel. The Houthis are the last militant group in Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” that is capable of regularly attacking Israel.

The new U.S. operation against the Houthis under U.S. President Donald Trump is more extensive than attacks on the group were under President Joe Biden, an AP review found. The new campaign started after the rebels threatened to begin targeting “Israeli” ships again over Israel blocking aid from entering the Gaza Strip.

From November 2023 until this January, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually. The Houthis also launched attacks targeting American warships without success.

Assessing the toll of the month-old U.S. airstrike campaign has been difficult because the military hasn’t released information about the attacks, including what was targeted and how many people were killed.

The Houthis, meanwhile, strictly control access to attacked areas and don’t publish complete information on the strikes, many of which likely have targeted military and security sites.

Last week, a strike on the Ras Isa fuel port killed at least 74 people and wounded 171 others in the deadliest-known attack of the American campaign.