Yemen Houthis Claim to Have List of Viable Israeli Targets

(Bloomberg) -- Yemen Shiite Houthi rebels say they have identified a range of Israeli military targets they are able to attack.

“We will not hesitate even a minute to destroy these targets if the leadership takes the decision to do so,” Mohammed Al-Atifi, the Houthi defense minister, said in an interview with rebel-linked Al-Masirah newspaper published on Sunday.

He accused Israel of participating in the Saudi Arabian-led offensive against the Houthis, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Iran of deploying missiles in Yemen that could hit Israel.

There’s little evidence the Houthis possess the ability to launch a strike from hundreds of miles away, but that’s not necessarily the last word, said Ari Heistein, a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University.

“As of now we really have no open source information that indicates that they have the capability to strike Israel,” but that calculation would be different if “Iran decides to use the element of surprise and arm the Houthis with its longest-range and most sophisticated missiles,” Heistein said.

--With assistance from Ivan Levingston.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mohammed Hatem in Dubai at mhatem1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, James Amott

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