Houthi missiles: What shot them down?

Millions of Israelis have been forced to run to shelter due to long-range missiles fired from Yemen by the Houthis, but thanks to the American THAAD system, they were all shot down before entering Israeli airspace, according to N12 News.

Ever since the hostage exchanges ended and Israel began restarting the pressure on Hamas, Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen have been escalating attacks against Israel, first against Israeli shipping in the Red Sea - which includes all ships even remotely related to Israel - and then direct attacks on Israel with long-range missiles.

As the Houthi leaders repeatedly said, they were in close contact with Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist groups, and they would not hesitate to restart hostilities if the ceasefire did not hold or humanitarian aid was suspended.

The anti-missile system which has ensured that none of the six missiles fired at Israel entered Israeli airspace is the American Terminal High Altitude Defense or THAAD system, which the United States redeployed to Israel months ago and which has now become operational.

According to an Israeli expert on the system, THAAD can shoot down missiles both within the atmosphere and above it, and while there are clear rules as to its use, in practice the deployment and activation of its systems is "dynamic" and subject to change.

Although Israel has a multi-layered missile and projectile defense system in place for rockets and missiles, the threat of the system being overwhelmed means that it welcomed the introduction of the THAAD as part of its defenses, especially against threats from Yemen and Iran.

The transfer of the THAAD system, which is operated by US soldiers, was also done as a sign of the United States' "ironclad" commitment to Israeli security, a commitment which has been strengthened in recent months with the ending of the Biden administration's de facto arms embargo on Israeli offensive weapons.