Houthi Ansar Allah Movement Claims Three Drone And Missile Attacks On Power Stations, 'Military' Target In Israel; 14th Interception Of 'American MQ-9 Aircraft;' Declares 'Readiness To Face Foolishness' From Israel, U.S.

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Between January 1 and 5, 2025, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi Ansar Allah movement (the Houthis) claimed responsibility for two missile attacks on two power stations in Israel, and for a drone attack on another ''military'' target in Israel. The Houthis also claimed responsibility for what they alleged was the 14^th interception of ''an American MQ-9 aircraft'' in the airspace above Yemen's Ma'rib Governorate.

Houthi armed forces spokesman Yahya Sare'e declared that the Yemeni armed forces "confirm their readiness to face any foolishness of the American and Israeli aggression forces or those involved with them from any other parties."

He further reiterated his call to all "freemen among the Arab and Islamic nation" to take serious action in order to stop the Israeli massacres against our people in Gaza."

The following are the main points made in the statements issued by the Houthi armed forces between January 1 and 5, 2025:

On January 1, in a statement posted on his X and Telegram accounts in both Arabic and in English, Sare'e claimed that, "the air defenses of the Yemeni armed forces were able to shoot down an American MQ-9 aircraft while it was carrying out hostile missions in the airspace of Ma'rib Governorate. The aircraft was shot down with a locally-made surface-to-air missile."

Sare'e added that this was the second American MQ-9 aircraft that the Houthis had intercepted in the previous 72 hours, and the 14^th such interception since the start of "the Battle of the Promised Victory and the Holy Jihad in Support of Gaza.''^[1] On December 28, 2024, the Houthis claimed to have intercepted an American MQ-9 drone in the airspace above Al-Bayda Governorate.[2]

On January 3, Sare'e issued another statement which claimed that "the missile force of the Yemeni armed forces carried out a military operation targeting an enemy linked power station east of the occupied area of Jaffa, using a hypersonic ballistic missile, type Palestine 2."

He further announced that, "The UAVs force of Yemeni armed forces carried out a military operation targeting a military target in the occupied area Jaffa, using Jaffa drone."[3]

Also on January 3, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesman reported that a missile emanating from Yemen was intercepted after crossing into Israeli territory, and a drone launched from Yemen was intercepted before it breached Israeli territory.[4]

On January 5, Sare'e announced that, "The missile force of the Yemeni armed forces carried out a military operation, targeting the "Orot Rabin" power station linked to the Israeli enemy south of the Haifa area in the occupied territories, using a hypersonic ballistic missile, Palestine 2."[5]

On the same day, the IDF spokesman reported that a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory.[6]