“We possess an advanced military arsenal that many countries do not have, and our missile power is a symbol of this advanced, effective and important capability,” Houthi Leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said in a televised address on Saturday, on the 10th anniversary of the Houthi takeover of Sanaa in an uprising in 2014, known among the militia’s supporters as the September 21 Revolution.
“Yemen has an advanced level of unmanned aviation, naval power, the formation and development of the ground force, and the production of required equipment,” al-Houthi said, characterizing the militia’s missile force as a “strike arm” for deterring and confronting the nation’s enemies, and the military in general key for peaceful development, without which the enemy could “move in militarily and destroy everything.”
“The Yemenis will remain steadfast in the central issue of supporting the Palestinians in the face of Israeli aggression, notwithstanding the horrific crimes and severe siege,” al-Houthi added, referencing the militia’s ongoing campaign of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, and the partial blockade of Red Sea shipping to Israeli, US and UK-linked merchant shipping.
The Yemenis announced last week that they had fired a hypersonic missile 2,000 km into Israel. The IDF confirmed that a missile had landed inside the country, hitting an open area near the Red Sea port city of Eilat. A Pentagon spokesman claimed the missile involved was ballistic, not hypersonic. Last week’s incident is the second time in two months that a Houthi long-range weapon has evaded Israel’s sophisticated air defenses and made it into the country. On July 19, a large, airplane-style Houthi UAV slammed into a building in Tel Aviv, about 100 meters from the US consulate.