Israel’s defense minister on Thursday threatened Yemen’s Houthi rebels with devastation likened to the biblical 10 plagues of Egypt after they escalated missile strikes against Israel.
"The Houthis are firing missiles at Israel again. A plague of darkness, a plague of the firstborn - we will complete all 10 plagues," Israel Katz posted on X.
He was referring to the 10 disasters that the Book of Exodus says were inflicted on Egypt by the Hebrew God to convince the pharaoh to free the enslaved Israelites.
Earlier Thursday, the Israeli army said a missile fired from Yemen struck outside Israeli territory, a day after it intercepted two Houthi missiles.
The Houthis' military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the rebels had targeted Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport with a ballistic missile.
The Iran-backed Houthis have vowed to step up their attacks on Israel, after their prime minister and 11 other senior officials were killed in Israeli air strikes last week.
The Houthis have launched repeated drone and missile attacks against Israel since it launched a genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, saying the launches are in support of the Palestinians.
Israel has carried out several rounds of retaliatory strikes in Yemen, targeting ports, power stations and the international airport in Sanaa, the rebel-held capital.
