Despite repeated warning from Israel and Western allies, Houthi terrorist continue to menace the Red Sea shipping lanes and fire ballistic missiles and drones at Israel. Today, Israeli aircraft retaliated against the Houthis. The attacks followed coalition attacks and though not a joint operation, there was deconfliction to avoid any potential friendly fire incidents.

Over the past two weeks, a number of ballistic missiles were fired into Israel, and though little damage was done, there was a sense of unease across the country. Though there have been no official reports, it appears that the missiles either evaded interception until very late or perhaps the interceptions only caused partial damage to the inbound missile. Whatever the case, video showed what appears to be multiple interceptors being fired in the terminal phase and explosions, as parts of the falling missiles hit the ground. Then Thursday night, the Houthis fired three drones from Yemen that were intercepted, including at least one that landed inside of Israeli territory. Israeli leaders decided they needed to act.

The airstrike was undertaken by at least 20 aircraft, including support aircraft, and delivered 50 guided munitions on three targets. The attack was conducted in broad daylight for maximum impact during a mass demonstration being held. Some of the attacks were clearly visible from the demonstration. According to the IDF spokesman, “the targets were infrastructure at the “Hijaz” power station which serves as a central electrical infrastructure for the Houthi terrorist regime.” The other targets were the ports of Ras Issa and Hodeidah on the western coast of Yemen which the IDF spokesman said, “illustrate the military use that the Houthi terrorist regime is making of civilian infrastructure for terrorism.”

Later in the afternoon, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu issued a statement warning the Houthis and Iran, “We will not tolerate harm to our citizens and our state. We will act with determination and force against any entity that threatens the State of Israel – wherever and whenever necessary.”

With only ten days until President Elect Donald Trump is sworn into office, the weakness of the Biden era is fading into the past. President Trump has warned Hamas that they better release hostages or he will act day one. Given the saber rattling over the Panama Canal, protection of shipping lanes via Greenland, it seems likely that the Red Sea and Suez shipping lane would be high on his list of priorities to settle. The Houthis and their Iranian masters’ days may be numbered.