Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon on Monday issued what he called a final warning to Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants to halt missile attacks on Israel, saying they risked the same “miserable fate” as Hamas, Hezbollah and former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad if they persisted.
Danon also warned Tehran that Israel has the ability to strike any target in the Middle East, including Iran.
He added that Israel would not tolerate attacks by Iranian proxies, but hours later, the Israeli military announced that it had intercepted a missile fired from Yemen, prompting sirens to sound across the nation.
Photo: AFP
The Houthis targeted Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv and a power station using a hypersonic ballistic missile and a Zulfiqar ballistic missile respectively, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said yesterday.
The Houthis would not end attacks on Israel, Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, the head of the Houthis’ supreme revolutionary committee, said after the Israeli military announced the missile interception.
“The pounding of the entity [Israel] continues and the support to Gaza continues,” he wrote on social media.
The Houthis repeatedly have fired drones and missiles toward Israel in what they describe as acts of solidarity with Palestinians under Israeli fire in Gaza.
Danon, addressing the UN Security Council, said that Israel would not tolerate further Houthi attacks.
“To the Houthis, perhaps you have not been paying attention to what has happened to the Middle East over the past year,” he said. “Well, allow me to remind you what has happened to Hamas, to Hezbollah, to [al-]Assad, to all those who have attempted to destroy us. Let this be your final warning. This is not a threat. It is a promise. You will share the same miserable fate.”
Before the meeting, Danon told reporters that “Israel will defend its people. If 2,000 kilometers is not enough to separate our children from the terror, let me assure you, it will not be enough to protect their terror from our strengths.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week warned the Houthis that Israel was “just getting started” following Israeli strikes on multiple Houthi-linked targets in Yemen, including Sana’a airport,.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was about to board a plane at the airport when it came under attack by Israel. A crew member on the plane was injured.
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