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On January 31st, the Houthis (Ansar Allah) fired a number of ballistic missiles at Abu Dhabi, and several drones at Dubai. The United Arab Emirates says that a ballistic missile fired from Yemen was intercepted.
In response, the Air Force of the Saudi-led coalition destroyed the launch site in the Yemeni province of Al-Jawf, from where the Houthis launched the attack.
According to the UAE’s defence ministry, the debris of the missile fell on an uninhabited area. The Emirati ministry of defense claimed that it had destructed a launch site for one of the missiles that landed on the UAE.
The UAE state news agency (WAM) reported that air traffic was not interrupted by the attack.
The spokesperson for the Houthis movement confirmed the attack on the same day.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces, with the help of God Almighty, carried out Operation Hurricane Yemen 3 in the depths of the small enemy country of the UAE, the details of which are as follows:
- Attack on important targets in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi with a number of Zulfiqar ballistic missiles.
- Attack on sensitive targets in the Emirate of Dubai with a number of Samad-3 drones.
With God’s help, this operation successfully achieved its goals. The UAE will remain insecure as long as the Israeli enemy uses Abu Dhabi and Dubai as a tool to attack our people and our country.
Accordingly, we warn citizens and companies to stay away from critical places and facilities. Because these targets will be subjected to attacks in the future.
The armed forces will not sit idle when they see that the great people of Yemen are suffering from the siege and the crimes of the aggressors against them is increasing.With the help of God Almighty, the legitimate defense of dear Yemen will continue until the end of the war and the removing of the siege, and God is witness to what we are saying.”
Brig. Gen. Yahya Sari warned that the headquarters of international companies in the UAE will be targeted by more attacks in nearest future. He claimed that the UAE enemy state will remain unsafe as long as the tools of the Israeli enemy remain in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, launching aggression against Yemen.
The latest attack was the third in a series of strikes targeting the UAE. The first took place on January 17th, and the second was carried out on January 24th, when two ballistic missiles were intercepted over Abu Dhabi.
The attacks were linked with the diplomatic processes between the UAE and Israel. The UAE, along with Bahrain, signed US-brokered normalisation agreements with Israel, dubbed the “Abraham Accords”, in 2020.
On January 30, the UAE hosted Isaac Herzog on the first-ever visit to the country by an Israeli president.
The captain of the Israeli President’s plane:
“Look, we are flying over Saudi Arabia! It’s a historic moment”
During the visit, he met with the UAE’s de facto ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Abu Dhabi. Isaak should also meet with Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and representatives of the Jewish community. On January 31, the President opened the “Israel Day” at the Expo 2020 exhibition held in Dubai.
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The rocket attack on January 24 took place the day after Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Minister of Science and Technology Orit Farkash-Hakoen announced the creation of a joint high-tech investment fund with the UAE.
Following the attack on January 17th, when a fire had broken out at a construction site at Abu Dhabi International Airport, the local reports claimed that Israeli fighter jets were deployed in Abu Dhabi, and that Israeli pilots are involved in airstrikes of the Saudi-led coalition on Yemen.
earlier, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which is close to Hezbollah, quoted Yemeni group’s officials as saying that “the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, obviously, were not alone in the battles for Shabwa and Marib, that they were supported by the United States and possibly Israel.” According to the newspaper, Ansar Allah assesses the extent of Israel’s involvement in this campaign. It was claimed that the attacks of the KSA and the UAE on Houthi positions in Yemen could have been carried out with Israeli support.
“If it turns out that Israelis are behind the attacks, we intend to directly attack the Zionist entity in order to wreak havoc in Tel Aviv, because the Israelis know that what can harm Abu Dhabi can also damage Eilat.”
The Houthis have demonstrated that they have missiles and drones capable of operating at a distance of more than 2000 km and hitting Israeli Eilat.
The Houthis have proven that they are waging war not only against Saudi Arabia and the UAE, but are also part of the broader Iranian resistance to the United States and Israel.
The first in three years UAE’s participation in a large-scale attack on Houthi strongholds in Yemen was the trigger for expanding the battlefield of the Yemeni War.
