On October 7, Hamas launched a devastating strike against Israel. After then, the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah started bombing Israel as well. According to reports, a second group has now declared war on Israel.
The Houthis, a Shia jihadist terror group operating in Yemen, allegedly fired cruise and ballistic missiles into Israel on Monday, October 30. Iranian news agency Mehr News reportedly quoted a Houthi spokeswoman as saying the rebels were “declar[ing] war” on Israel, as reported by Breitbart.
War had been declared between Yemen and Israel, according to online speculations. However, the Houthi rebels are not the legitimate government of Yemen despite their possession of the city. This is not a government that has attacked Israel. The Israeli Iron Dome defense system and its fighter jets were successful in stopping the incoming rockets from the rebels. On Wednesday, they tried again, but their missiles were also intercepted.
Lebanon is experiencing a very similar conflict right now. Although the Lebanese government has not officially declared war on Israel, Hezbollah has begun to launch strikes inside the country. The Israeli government is responding by expanding its attacks into southern Lebanon. Residents of Lebanon are worry that the fighting between the terrorist group and the Israeli army would get out of hand. Many locals feel bad for the people of Gaza who are getting caught in the crossfire, but they don’t want the same thing to happen in their own country.
The 30-year-old Elie Khoury told Al Jazeera that he is opposed to the start of a “all-out war” because he thinks it would never end. He said the country’s economy “won’t be able to handle it” and that they “don’t even have enough medications” as it is.
The Western world wants to avoid escalating tensions in the Middle East into a full-scale regional war. Concerns have been raised that the conflict between Israel and Hamas could lead to World War III.
