Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, issued a stern warning on Monday to Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants, urging them to cease their missile attacks on Israel or face the same “miserable fate” as Hamas, Hezbollah, and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad. Danon also warned Tehran that Israel has the capability to strike any target in the Middle East, including Iran, and emphasized that Israel would not tolerate attacks by Iranian proxies.
Just hours after Danon’s address, the Israeli military announced the interception of a missile fired from Yemen, triggering sirens across the country. In response, Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthis’ supreme revolutionary committee, declared that the group would not halt its attacks on Israel, framing their actions as solidarity with Palestinians under Israeli fire in Gaza.
During a U.N. Security Council meeting, Danon reiterated Israel’s resolve against further Houthi attacks, reminding the militants of the fates of their regional allies. “Let this be your final warning. This is not a threat. It is a promise. You will share the same miserable fate,” Danon stated.
Ahead of the meeting, Danon told reporters, “Israel will defend its people. If 2,000 kilometers is not enough to separate our children from the terror, let me assure you, it will not be enough to protect their terror from our strengths.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also issued a warning to the Houthis, stating that Israel was “just getting started” following strikes on multiple Houthi-linked targets in Yemen, including Sanaa airport, ports on the west coast, and two power plants. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, reported that he was at the airport when it was attacked by Israel, resulting in injuries to a crew member on his plane.
Khaled Khiari, Assistant U.N. Secretary General for the Middle East, expressed grave concern about the escalation in violence, urging the Houthis to halt their attacks and calling for adherence to international and humanitarian law. Khiari warned that further military escalation could destabilize the region and have severe political, security, economic, and humanitarian repercussions.
Russia’s ambassador to the U.N., Vassily Nebenzia, condemned the Houthi missile attacks on Israel but also criticized Israel’s retaliatory strikes on Yemen, as well as those by the “Anglo-Saxon coalition” of U.S. and British warships in the Red Sea, labeling them as “clearly not proportional.”