SANAA (Dispatches) – Yemen’s Armed Forces, led by the Ansarullah movement, launched a high-profile missile strike on Tel Aviv on Wednesday, temporarily shutting down Ben Gurion Airport and sending thousands of Israeli settlers rushing to shelters. 
The operation, described by the Yemeni military as a “qualitative, dual strike,” used a “Palestine-2” missile and a “Zulfiqar” missile to target what they called “sensitive enemy sites” in the occupied Yaffa area.
The strike marked a direct retaliation for Israel’s deadly air assault on the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, which killed Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb al-Rahawi of the National Government of Change and Construction, along with eight other senior officials. Yemen’s government in Sanaa vowed that further escalations would follow.
In a notable regional development, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported that Saudi Arabia had placed its air force and missile defense systems on high alert along its southern border in the hours leading up to the Yemeni strike. 
Sources linked to Ansarullah revealed that Riyadh was coordinating with the U.S. and Israel to intercept launches from Yemen. The Yemeni side accused Saudi Arabia of “defending the Zionist regime” and betraying the Palestinian cause.
Saudi jets reportedly intensified patrols near the border, and missile defense systems were activated to counter potential Yemeni launches toward Israeli territory. 
Ansarullah-linked sources view the move as part of a wider “Saudi-American-Israeli axis,” aimed at suppressing regional resistance movements and shielding Israel from Arab backlash.
The Yemeni Armed Forces have been conducting increasingly sophisticated military operations across the region since October 2023, when Israel launched its assault on Gaza. 
Yemen has declared that it will target Israeli-linked assets—including oil tankers and military infrastructure—as long as the war and blockade on Gaza continue.
“The Israeli enemy will not enjoy security or stability while our brothers and sisters in Gaza are being starved and massacred,” the Yemeni military said in its latest statement. It described Wednesday’s strike as just “the beginning of a broader escalation.”
Israel’s onslaught in Gaza has killed more than 63,600 Palestinians and wounded over 160,000—mostly women and children—according to local health authorities. Humanitarian agencies have repeatedly warned of famine, disease, and the collapse of infrastructure amid the Israeli siege.
Despite Israel claiming one missile was intercepted, Tel Aviv residents experienced widespread panic, with air raid sirens blaring and airport operations suspended. The disruption highlighted Yemen’s growing regional reach and the vulnerability of Israel’s critical infrastructure.
Ansarullah leaders maintain that their campaign is both moral and strategic. “Our response will intensify until the aggression ends,” the statement said. “Gaza is not alone.”