Israeli Air Force shoots down Houthi drone launched toward Eilat 'under Iranian directives'

The Israeli Air Force shot down a “hostile aerial target” over the Red Sea on Tuesday, the IDF said in a statement. According to the Israeli military, the target was believed to be a drone launched at Israel from Yemen and IAF air traffic control kept the drone under observation throughout the incident.

Yemen’s terrorist Houthi movement, an Iranian proxy, said it had fired several drones at the Israeli city of Eilat.

IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Daniel Hagari said the Houthis’ attacks on Israel are “acts of terror.”

“This is an act that is carried out under Iranian directives,” Hagari said.

According to the United States, the Iranian regime is deeply involved in planning the Houthi attacks, and it provides intelligence that is essential for the Houthi rebels to operate and hit ships in the Red Sea.

The IAF's interception of the Houthi drone came on the same day the U.S. reported it had shot down 12 suicide drones and five missiles launched by the Houthis. In a statement, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said the USS Laboon, a guided-missile destroyer, and F-18 fighter jets from the Eisenhower carrier strike group shot down 12 one-way attack drones, three anti-ship ballistic missiles, and two land attack cruise missiles in the southern Red Sea that were fired by the Houthis over a 10-hour period.

There were no damages or injuries, according to CENTCOM and it did not specify whether the Houthis were targeting U.S. Navy vessels, commercial ships or the State of Israel.

CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) Mark Dubowitz said the Islamic regime in Iran is using its proxies to escalate violence in the Middle East region.

“The regime in Iran will escalate its violence through its Houthi, Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Kataib Hezbollah proxies until it pays a direct price. It is happy to fight to the last dead Yemenite, Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian, and Iraqi. But it will back down if the United States uses direct force against the regime and its assets,” Dubowitz said.

Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the FFD, said that the latest attacks are a result of failed deterrence.

“This is what happens when deterrence by punishment is forsaken. Expect more, not fewer, attacks towards Israel as well as diminished freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. Anti-ship ballistic missiles, suicide drones, and land attack cruise missiles in the hands of the Houthis are brought to you by the Islamic Republic of Iran, full stop,” Ben Taleblu said.

On Sunday, an American warship sailing in the southern part of the Red Sea intercepted four drones that were launched toward it from Yemen. According to CENTCOM, the missiles were launched from areas controlled by the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The U.S. military also reported that two ballistic missiles were fired at vessels traveling along international shipping routes in the Red Sea from areas under Houthi control. No ships or personnel were damaged or injured.