Aden (South24 Center) 

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Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis announced on Sunday that they had launched several ballistic missiles toward Jaffa (Tel Aviv) in central Israel, in coordination with Iranian forces.

According to a statement issued by the Houthi’s military spokesperson, the missile attack was carried out in solidarity with the Palestinian and Iranian peoples and was coordinated with the operations conducted by the Iranian Army and Revolutionary Guard “against the Israeli enemy”.

The Houthi official also called on Arab and Islamic nations to engage in what he described as “Jihad” to stop Israeli crimes.

The Houthi statement came hours after Israeli airstrikes reportedly targeted a meeting of prominent Houthi leaders near Yemen's capital Sanaa, according to Israeli media.

The Jerusalem Post cited a source in the Israeli military as stating that Israeli forces conducted airstrikes inside Yemen, targeting an individual described as the Houthis "chief of staff", Mohammed Abdul Karim al-Ghamari.

On Sunday, Israel's Channel 12 reported that the IDF was not sure if it had succeeded in killing Al-Ghamari in the Yemen attack, but that he was wounded.

A military source told the newspaper: "We will know soon whether we successfully executed the strike."

A Yemeni security source told Yedioth Ahronoth that al-Ghamari served as a coordinator between the Houthis and Iran and was head of the Houthis’ missile program.

A local Yemeni source told ‘South24 Center’ that the Israeli attack, carried out yesterday evening, targeted a building used by the Houthis on October 14 Street area, south of the capital, Sana'a.

According to two local sources in Sana'a, the targeted house was empty of Houthi leaders at the time of the strike.

The Houthi group has not officially commented on the attack. However, a Houthi official accused Israel of "lying" in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Saudi media reported that al-Ghamari and four other Houthi military commanders were targeted in the Israeli raid.

The group's top leader, Abdulmalik al-Houthi, had declared in a speech on Saturday that his group stands with Iran in responding to the Israeli attacks.

Israel had previously vowed to target the Yemeni group's leaders. However, this marks the first time it has managed to target a secret meeting of the group. If al-Ghamari's death is confirmed, the attack would demonstrate Israel's ability to infiltrate the Houthis and plant operatives in Yemen.

On June 10, Lebanese security authorities arrested a Yemeni national in Beirut on charges of spying for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency.

Lebanese news outlets claimed the man was a Houthi group official, while other reports suggested he had ties to the Yemeni embassy.

The escalation follows a wave of reciprocal attacks between Israel and Iran, including Israeli strikes on Iranian territory that killed dozens, and Tehran's retaliatory missile strikes targeting Tel Aviv and Haifa, which have left several dead and hundreds wounded.

The developments underscore the expanding regional dimensions of the Yemen conflict and the Houthis' deepening integration into Iran's regional military strategy.