Defense Minister Israel Katz warns Houthi rebels that Israel will 'behead' its leaders as it did to Hamas.
Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz for the first time publicly admitted that his country had killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, and warned that the Houthis living in Yemen had also been hit “severely”.
Speaking on Monday evening at a ceremony to honor employees of the Ministry of Defense, Katz said that Israel “has done a lot of damage to the evil side, and we will also destroy the Houthi terrorist group in Yemen, which is still the last one standing”.
“When the Houthi terrorist group is firing missiles at Israel, I want to tell them a clear message at the beginning of my speech: We have defeated Hamas, we have defeated Hezbollah, we have blinded Iran's security systems and destroyed its production systems. We have overthrown the government of (Bashar al-) Assad in Syria,” Katz said.
Israel will “destroy the infrastructure (of the Houthis), and we will behead their leaders – as we did to Haniyeh, Sinwar and Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon – we will do it in (Yemen's) Hodeidah and Sanaa”, Katz added, referring to the subsequent execution of the official Hamas in Gaza Yahya Sinwar and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The Houthis have carried out several attacks on Israel in recent months, including an attack on Tel Aviv on Saturday using what the Houthis described as a hypersonic ballistic missile.
More than a dozen people were slightly injured when the missile evaded Israeli security forces and hit a public park in Jaffa.
Haniyeh was killed on July 31 while in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of the President of Iran. Masoud Pezeshkian.
According to Iranian media reports at the time, the Hamas leader and his bodyguards were killed when an “aircraft guided missile” hit a military compound, where he lives, north of Tehran around 2am local time.
Iranian and Palestinian officials have condemned the Israeli killings, but Israeli officials have so far neither confirmed nor denied taking action.
Haniyeh's killing sparked outrage in Palestine and raised fears of a major regional conflict as Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promised “severe punishment” in retaliation.
In October, Iran launched several rockets into several Israeli cities in what it said was retaliation for the killing of the leaders of its allies, Hamas and Hezbollah.
The Israeli military said that “minor” casualties were recorded in the central and southern regions of the country, while the Israeli emergency agency said two people were injured by falling shrapnel in the Tel Aviv area.
No Israeli deaths were reported. Palestinian officials say a man was killed by falling debris in the West Bank.