Yemen's Houthi forces launched a second wave of cruise missiles and drones at Israel on Saturday, less than 24 hours after their first attack of the war. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the strikes targeted military installations in southern Israel and were carried out "in solidarity with the Islamic Republic." [1]

The first salvo, a ballistic missile attack on Friday night, marked the Houthis' formal entry into the conflict after weeks of threats. Saturday's follow-up confirmed that Yemen intends to sustain operations, not merely gesture. The Houthis have opened a second front that now requires Israel and the United States to allocate interceptors and intelligence resources across a wider arc — from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. [2]

Israeli air defenses engaged the incoming projectiles. The IDF reported no casualties from either wave but acknowledged the operational burden of simultaneous threats from Iran to the north and Yemen to the south. Shipping insurers, already pricing Houthi risk into Red Sea transit, raised premiums again on Saturday.

The operational implications extend beyond interceptor allocation. Yemen sits astride the Bab al-Mandab strait, the southern chokepoint to the Red Sea. A sustained Houthi campaign means the war now threatens two of the world's three most critical maritime chokepoints simultaneously — Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab. European maritime commanders warned Saturday that Houthi attacks could disrupt Red Sea commercial shipping further.

A war that started with two belligerents now has three. The Houthis have survived a decade of Saudi-led coalition airstrikes. They are not bluffing.

-- YOSEF STERN, Jerusalem