JERUSALEM, Israel – In a joint operation, Israel and the U.S. began bombing multiple sites in Yemen Monday evening, a day after a missile struck near Tel Aviv’s busy Ben Gurion Airport.
Meanwhile, Israel’s new reservist call-up foreshadows a huge operation in Gaza. However, Israel claims its goal is not sovereignty there.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made good on his promise to strike back at the Houthis in Yemen for launching surface-to-surface missiles and drones toward Israel and its civilians.
After a missile landed close to Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday, the Israeli Air Force sent nearly two dozen fighter jets and dozens of munitions to bombard Houthi targets along Yemen’s coastline.
The Israel Defense Forces announced they struck the Hudaydah port, where Iranian weapons and military equipment to supply the Houthi regime are shipped into the country.
Another target: the Bajil concrete plant, which is a source of income for the Houthis and is also used to build terrorist infrastructure.
Netanyahu was at the Air Force command center during the attack.
The increased pressure on the Houthis comes as Israel is calling up tens of thousands of reservists to fight in Gaza.
In a video posted on X, Netanyahu said Israel’s goal is the defeat of Hamas and the return of the hostages.
He wrote, “One thing will be clear: there will be no in-and-out. We’ll call up reserves to come, hold territory – we’re not going to enter and then exit the area, only to carry out raids afterward. That’s not the plan. The intention is the opposite.”
The prime minister also said Israel would watch out for the Gaza civilians.
“There will be a movement of the population to protect them,” he stated.
IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin laid out the military’s plans.
“The reserve mobilization at this time is difficult and complex, but it is being carried out in order to bring back our hostages, achieve a decisive outcome, and end the war,” Defrin declared.
Standing on the Gaza border, he asserted that Hamas continues to misjudge Israel’s determination to finish off the terror group.
“Hamas is the one who initiated the vicious attack against us, Hamas is the one harming the Gazan population, Hamas is the one bringing destruction and devastation,” Defrin said.
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Israeli Government Spokesman David Mencer insisted it’s not Israel’s goal to occupy Gaza, but to expand the military operation.
“Why? To increase the pressure on Hamas to release our hostages. In additional areas, Israel will destroy all terrorist infrastructure both above and below ground,” he said.
Oded Ailam, former director of counter-terrorism for Mossad, told CBN News the real problem is not Hamas, Hezbollah, or the Houthis, but their backers in Tehran.
“And Iran is the composer of whatever we see here, although they do not take credit for any sort of – any kind of attack that is initiated by proxies like Hezbollah or like the Houthis or the Hamas, and so on. But they are the big brother who actually holds the strings, and everybody’s playing like a marionette – to the theme and to the music,” Ailam explained.
He pointed out that Iran’s greatest threat isn’t only its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
“I’m talking about initiating terror acts around the world against Jewish and Israeli targets all the time,” he said.
Brad Bowman with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies suggests that’s especially true of the Houthis.
Speaking on CBN’s Faith Nation, he noted, “This is a determined group that is explicitly anti-American and anti-Semitic, and we should expect these attacks to continue as long as they have the means – and many of those means are coming from the Islamic Republic of Iran.
He continued, “So, if we continue to go after the Houthis and don’t address Iran, it’s a bit like cleaning up puddles in your home and not addressing the leak in your roof.”
In Washington, hundreds of Christian and Jewish supporters gathered for Israel Advocacy Day, rallying lawmakers and citizens to stand firm for Israel and against anti-Semitism.
The need may be more urgent than ever as polling shows some 53 percent of Americans hold a negative view of Israel, with the highest numbers among young Americans.
Dr. Susan Michael of American Christian Leaders for Israel told CBN News, “It’s no surprise when you see the anti-Israel propaganda that is on social media. We have it in our universities and college campuses.”
She added, “We have got to educate, educate, educate. So, we need to be on social media and much more aggressive, reaching these young people where they are.”
