Yedioth Ahronoth reported this morning (Friday) that over the past few months, Israel’s security establishment has identified marked progress in the Houthis’ capabilities in Yemen. The developments include domestic production of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and advanced long‑range missiles built using Iranian expertise together with local engineers, and the use of underground facilities to manufacture and store such weapons.
Concurrently, Israeli agencies are monitoring attempts in Yemen to train militants for another large‑scale raid in the style of October 7 — that is, an operation intended to infiltrate Israel from neighboring states.
Israeli intelligence is tracking recruitment and training of armed local Houthi militias, including a course called “Tufan al‑Aqsa” (the al-Aqsa Flood), which is reportedly designed to train militia members to invade Israel in large numbers — thousands or even tens of thousands — to carry out mass killing campaigns culminating in reaching Jerusalem. These courses are being held in Yemen, but analysts assess that if the plan is executed, it would likely be launched from Jordan, with efforts to obscure the attackers’ traces.
Dozens of Israel Air Force aircraft, directed by IDF intelligence, conducted strikes on Thursday against targets belonging to the Houthi regime's security and intelligence establishments in the Sanaa area deep in Yemen.
Among the targets struck were the Houthi General Staff Command Headquarters, compounds of the terrorist regime’s security and intelligence apparatus, the Houthis’ military public relations headquarters, and military camps where weapons and military operatives of the Houthi terrorist regime were identified in the Sanaa area.
According to the IDF, the strikes were carried out in response to repeated attacks by the Houthi terrorist regime against the State of Israel and its civilians, including the launching of UAVs and surface-to-surface missiles toward Israeli territory.
"The security and intelligence apparatus is one of the internal security mechanisms of the Houthi terrorist regime; it takes part in terrorist activities and directly contributes to military actions against the State of Israel that undermine stability in the Middle East. The security and intelligence apparatus is also involved in repressing regime opponents through the use of political prisons and torture," the military stated.
It further stated that "the military camps that were struck are used by the Houthi terrorist regime to store weapons and to plan and execute terrorist attacks against the State of Israel. The Houthi terrorist regime operate under Iranian direction and funding in order to harm the State of Israel and its allies. The regime exploits the maritime domain to project force and carry out terror activity against the global shipping and trade routes."
This was the 15th time the IDF struck targets in Yemen. A total of approximately 20 aircraft dropped over 65 munitions, the most used so far, on seven targets, 2,200 km away from Israel, including five occupied command centers and two weapons warehouses.