JERUSALEM: Israel will do to Iran what it has done to Hamas in Gaza, Defence Minister Israel Katz warned Thursday, days after an attack on Ben Gurion airport by Iran-backed Huthi rebels.
“I warn… Iranian leaders who finance, arm and exploit the Huthi terrorist organisation: the proxy system is terminated and the axis of evil has collapsed,“ Katz said in a statement.
“You are directly responsible. What we have done to Hezbollah in Beirut, to Hamas in Gaza, to (now ousted Syrian president Bashar) Assad in Damascus, we will do to you in Tehran too.”
Along with Hezbollah and Hamas, Yemen’s Huthi rebels are part of Iran’s “axis of resistance” against Israel and its ally the United States.
Hezbollah began launching attacks in October 2023 in support of its ally Hamas following its unprecedented attack on southern Israel.
In a year of hostilities that ended with a November truce, the Israeli army all but crushed Hezbollah, while Hamas’s leadership has been decimated in the war sparked by the October 7 attack.
The Huthis attacked Israel’s main airport near Tel Aviv on Sunday, part of a campaign against Israel the rebels say is in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
Iran has denied supporting the Huthis in their attack.
Israel hit back against the Huthis with strikes on the airport in the rebel-held capital Sanaa as well as on power stations in and around the capital.
The United States and the Huthis reached a ceasefire agreement, mediator Oman announced on Tuesday, saying the deal would ensure “freedom of navigation” in the Red Sea where the rebels have attacked shipping.
The Huthis have vowed to continue targeting Israel and Israeli ships in the Red Sea despite the deal that ended weeks of intense US strikes on Yemen.
