Red Sea (South24)

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Yesterday, the Houthi militia announced it had targeted Eilat in Israel with a new ballistic missile bearing the “name of Palestine”, in the latest attack by the Iranian-backed Yemeni militia against the Hebrew state.

Military spokesman Yahya Sarea said: “In response to Israeli crimes, we targeted a military target in Eilat with the Palestine ballistic missile, which we are revealing today for the first time. The operation successfully achieved its goal.”

The attack comes less than one week after the semi-official Iranian Tasnim Agency announced the Houthis now possess missiles modeled after the Qadr missile, Iran’s first locally-manufactured naval ballistic missile, manufactured over ten years ago.

In its report, published on May 29, Tasnim said: “Iran’s first naval ballistic missile, Qadr, was developed by Shahid Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, and now, after several years, the same technology has become available to the Yemeni mujahideen.”

On Saturday, the Houthis said that for the second time in 24 hours, they had attacked the US aircraft carrier Eisenhower in the northern Red Sea using several missiles and drones.

بيان القوات المسلحة اليمنية بشأن عملية استهداف منطقة أم الرشراش جنوبي فلسطين المحتلة بصاروخ "فلسطين" الباليستي، والذي تم الكشف عنه اليوم ولأول مرة. pic.twitter.com/414BIfA9HL

— العميد يحيى سريع (@army21ye) June 3, 2024

The Houthis claimed that an American destroyer in the Red Sea was directly hit in a separate drone attack.

In the same statement, military spokesman Yahya Sarea announced the targeting of three commercial ships in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, which he said had violated the decision to ban entry to Israeli ports.

In a statement on X yesterday, Monday, US Central Command said it had destroyed a Houthi drone over the southern Red Sea.

June 2 Red Sea Update

In the past 24 hours, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces conducted a self-defense engagement over the southern Red Sea, destroying one Iranian-backed Houthi uncrewed aerial system (UAS).

It was determined the UAS presented an imminent threat to U.S.,… pic.twitter.com/4O5RvBpTft

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) June 3, 2024

On Sunday night, Central Command said its forces destroyed two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis toward the USS Gravely destroyer in the southern Red Sea.

On Thursday, the US and UK resumed air strikes on Houthi-linked targets, following weeks since the last attack. Central Command said the strikes, concentrated in Sanaa, struck 13 Houthi targets and were conducted in “self-defense”. 

On May 30, Houthi leader Abdulmalik Al-Houthi announced that his militia had attacked 129 commercial and military ships since the start of its naval campaign last November. He warned that Israel’s military operations in Rafah would lead to further escalation.