Early in the morning of September 29, 2025, Yemen's Houthi-armed "Palestine-2" high-speed missile broke through the Middle East night sky, directed at Israel's Tel Aviv airport, the Israeli air defense system emergency intercept, but not publicly intercepted success or not, and behind this silence, is the Houthi armed and Israel's continuous escalation of the "retaliatory cycle".
Meanwhile, officials such as U.S. Secretary of State Rubio are flying to Istanbul to participate in Russia-Ukraine negotiations, which markedly softened intervention in the Middle East conflict.
The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded strongly to the European and American sanctions, denouncing them as "illegal and unreasonable". The Revolutionary Guard displayed a high-profile video of the "Khorramshahr-4" missile covering the entire Israeli territory, and the confrontation between Teheran and Washington further intensified.
Missile strike exposure technology
On September 29, 2025, the air defense alert in the central Israeli city of Tel Aviv suddenly sounded in the night, when a missile launched from Yemen was breaking through the Red Sea airspace at a speed of 16 Mach, breaking the morning calm.
The missile crossed over the Arabian Sea at a speed of more than 5 Mach, and at the end of the sprint, the speed rose to 16 Mach, with its unique double-chipper warheads tracing a strange “water-swing” trajectory in the air, successfully breaking the air defense network of Israel’s proud “Iron Dome” and the “Shield-3” missile defense system.
The missile finally landed on the runway area near Ben-Gurion Airport. The shock wave generated by the violent explosion caused the glass curtain wall of the airport to shatter in a large area, and the flight immediately fell into a state of complete grounding. Millions of people were awakened in their sleep and poured into the nearest air-raid shelter to avoid danger.
Houthi armed spokesman Yahya Sarea subsequently confirmed the attack through Masila TV, saying that the action was a direct response to Israel's air strike on Hodeidah Port in Yemen the day before.
The day before, Israeli air force fighter jets bombed several facilities in the port of Hodeida, injuring several port workers, the Israeli military claimed to be the target of Iran's transit point for arms delivery to the Houthi armed forces, but the Houthi-controlled health department noted that the bombing caused civilian casualties.
The morning missile strike was not an isolated incident, with data showing that since Israel resumed its military operations in the Gaza Strip in March 2025, the Houthi armed forces have fired at least 85 ballistic missiles and 37 drones against Israel.
Several of these breakthroughs in the intercepting system resulted in drone attacks on Eilat on September 24 alone, in which 22 people were injured, including two seriously injured.
The Houthi armed forces’ increased strike capabilities are backed by the continuous upgrading of their weapons and the cost of low-cost raids.
Once nicknamed the "Slipper Army" by the outside world, they have now established an underground missile factory in the mountainous areas of northern Yemen. Through the modular technology provided by Iran, the dismantled missile parts are disguised as civilian materials and then assembled and produced by secret routes, and about 30 medium-range missiles can be manufactured every month.
The "Palestine-2" missile used in the attack, which combines the technological core of the Iranian "Hybalshakan-2" missile with the silicon-carbonated conductor, can withstand 2000 ° C high temperatures, coupled with the electromagnetic interference released by the cheap drone group, so that the Israeli radar system often falls into the "blind" state.
The Israeli military later admitted that in the face of this hypersonic weapon with maneuvering orbit change capability, the interception success rate was less than 30%.
U.S. policy moves
At the same time, it is worth mentioning that just after the news of the Houthi armed missile attack, the U.S. attitude changed 180 degrees.
A few weeks earlier, the U.S. Central Command also issued a statement saying that the airstrikes on Yemen were just the beginning of a massive military operation that would last for weeks, and that the Trump administration also classified the Houthi armed groups as “terrorists” and vowed to use “overwhelming lethal force” to combat its shelling operations in the Red Sea.
But after the missile attack, the statement of the U.S. State Department was significantly softened, no longer referring to the strong phrase "jointly pursuing Iran's responsibility" before, only calling for "reliable parties to maintain restraint and avoid the escalation of the situation."
Within six hours of the attack, the Pentagon urgently halted the 300 GBU-39 small-diameter bombs originally delivered to Israel, a 180-degree shift of substantial military significance, while GBU-39 was precisely the main precision guided weapon used by Israel in the airstrikes on Gaza in October 2023.
More notably, the U.S. Navy's "Roosevelt" aircraft carrier strike group has seen a significant change in the deployment trend in the Red Sea, with its "Standard-6" missile interception system shifted from 24-hour combat readiness to daily patrol mode.
This shift, interpreted by Jemen’s strategic affairs researcher Mustafa Nagi as an adjustment of U.S. attempts to re-consolidate the Middle East’s geopolitical position, aimed at balancing the risks of out-of-control support for Saudi Arabia from regional conflict.
However, the shift in the attitude of the United States has not changed its accusations against Iran. It still claims that Iran provides funds, weapons and technical training to the Houthi armed forces, violating the UN Security Council's arms embargo resolution against the Houthi armed forces.
Iran responds to sanctions
Faced with continued pressure and potential sanctions from the United States, Iran responded quickly. On the same day of the attack, the Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a 12-page statement systematically refuting the "rapid restoration of sanctions" mechanism initiated by Britain, France and Germany under pressure from the United States.
Iran's Permanent Mission to the United Nations submitted a letter to UN Secretary-General Guterres, clearly stating that the US allegations were "groundless" and emphasizing that Iran's policy has always been based on its principled position of supporting peace and stability in Yemen and a political solution to the crisis.
Hussein Salami, commander-in-chief of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, further pointed out that Iran has nothing to do with the attacks of Houthi armed forces, and Iran will not take the initiative to launch a war, but will make a decisive response in the face of threats.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghzi's statement on social media is more direct. He accused the United States of having no right to interfere in Iran's foreign policy, saying that the United States should stop killing the Yemeni people and end its support for Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip.
In the statement, it said the huge amount of U.S. military aid to Israel was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians.
This response continues Iran’s consistent stance, which previously rejected similar allegations from the United States at the UN Security Council in February 2025, stressed compliance with the UN Charter and Security Council resolutions, and called for a comprehensive political process to resolve the crisis in Yemen.
Israel has taken tough countermeasures against the attack by the Houthi armed forces. Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered 20 fighter planes on a special plane flying to the United States to drop 65 bombs on the Houthi General Staff, intelligence headquarters and weapons depot in Sana'a, setting a new high in the amount of ammunition in a single air strike.
Satellite imagery shows that the bombing resulted in several buildings being destroyed, with the Houthi government’s health ministry estimating at least eight people killed, 174 injured, and some civilians buried under the ruins.
Israel's isolation effect
In a subsequent speech at the United Nations General Assembly, Netanyahu listed the Houthis armed with Iran, Hamas and others as “the axis of terror” and claimed that Israel had destroyed most of the Houthis’ offensive capabilities, but the speech suffered a embarrassing scene, with more than 100 diplomats from more than 50 countries collectively withdrawing.
The reaction of the international community was clearly divided, with Indonesian President Prabhupada proposing to send 20,000 troops to Gaza for peace, with the initial support of France and Saudi Arabia, with disagreements within the European Union about Israel's retaliatory actions, and some countries concerned that the conflict expands to affect regional stability.
Shipping security in the Red Sea has also continued to be disturbed by the escalation of the situation, the Houthis armed forces in July have adjusted their strategy, not only to judge the flag nationality of the target, but to verify the links behind the company with Israel, which in two months have sunk two relevant merchant ships, leading to global shipping companies forced to adjust the route.
The early morning missile strike, like another stone in the Middle East, is spreading.
Whether the subtle shift in U.S. attitude will ease tensions, how Iran’s tough response will affect U.S. and Iranian relations, and what long-term challenges the Houthi armed forces will pose to regional security will remain unresolved.
conclusion
When the missile wreckage fell at the Tel Aviv railway station, and when Iran's sanctions statement was staged simultaneously with the strategic retreat of the United States, the situation in the Middle East had slipped to the "edge of loss of control". The attack of the Houthi armed forces not only exposed the loopholes in Israel's air defense system, but also revealed the escalation of Iran's "proxy war" model.
From Hezbollah to the Iraqi militia, many forces have formed a "encirclement network" against Israel, and the 180-degree change in the attitude of the United States may not be a compromise, but a clear understanding of the "cost of intervention."
I wonder what you think about this? Welcome to leave your thoughts in the comment area below. If you like the article, remember to like it and follow us next time.
The source:
Houthi armed groups claim to have conducted two military operations against Israel.
https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1844583758393375942&wfr=spider&for=pcIran's response to the EU-US reinstatement of sanctions on Iran: unjustified and illegal
https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1844591562189567667&wfr=spider&for=pc“Israel will have to make ‘painful and major’ concessions,” Israel media revealed the U.S. “21-point plan” to end the war in Gaza.
https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1844485675074908203&wfr=spider&for=pc