Aden – In an unprecedented escalation, Yemen’s Houthi movement has entered direct confrontation with Israel, launching a ballistic missile equipped with a cluster warhead toward Israeli territory. 

The attack prompted a series of intense Israeli airstrikes on Houthi positions in Sana’a, opening a new front in the Middle East’s complex web of conflicts.

Cluster Missile: A Tactical Turning Point

The Israeli military revealed that the Houthi missile carried 22 submunitions, making it one of the most dangerous types of cluster munitions. While Israel’s multi-layered air defense systems—such as Iron Dome and Arrow—intercepted several bomblets, the failure to neutralize all of them exposed vulnerabilities in the country’s aerial shield.

Yemeni military analyst Thabet Hussein described the missile as “hypersonic,” powered by solid fuel and capable of high-speed maneuvering, making it difficult to intercept during its terminal phase.