Yemen’s Houthis have announced a “second military operation” targeting Israel in a significant escalation of the ongoing West Asia conflict, using a barrage of cruise missiles and drones against what they described as “vital and military sites” in southern occupied Palestine.

 

In a statement, Yahya Saree, the Houthis’ military spokesperson, said that the operation was launched as part of the “Holy Jihad Battle” and coincided with military actions by allied groups, including forces in Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon. He added that the second operation “successfully achieved its objectives”.

 

This comes moments after the Iranian-backed group in Yemen officially joined the conflict in the region. In that statement, the Houthis vowed that their operations will continue until the declared objectives are achieved and until what they termed aggression against all fronts of the resistance ceases.