The Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist organization launched three ballistic missiles at Israel within 24 hours this week, marking a dangerous escalation in their ongoing campaign of terror against the Jewish state. Two of the missiles were intercepted and the third landed outside of Israel, the IDF reported, but the attacks demonstrate the Houthis’ relentless commitment to their declared war against Israel.
This latest barrage came just days after Israeli airstrikes successfully eliminated key Houthi leadership, including their prime minister, Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi, and other ministers. The precision strikes represented a significant blow to the terrorist organization’s command structure, yet rather than deterring further aggression, the Houthis have responded with increased desperation and violence.
In response to this latest escalation, Defense Minister Israel Katz responded to the missile attack, writing on X: “The Houthis are firing missiles at Israel again. A plague of darkness, a plague of [death of] the firstborn – we will complete all ten plagues.”
The biblical reference carries profound spiritual weight, particularly given Katz’s unique heritage and position. Israel Katz, a member of the ancient Kohen (priestly) lineage, serves not merely as a political leader but as a descendant of those who once ministered before the Lord in the Temple. His invocation of the Ten Plagues recalls the divine judgments that God brought upon Pharaoh and Egypt when they refused to release His chosen people from bondage.
In Jewish tradition, the role of the Kohen Mashuach (the anointed priest) included going before the nation to war, invoking divine protection and blessing upon Israel’s defenders. Katz’s warning echoes this ancient responsibility, speaking not merely as a government minister but as one called to stand between his people and their enemies.
Jewish sources predict that all of the plagues will reappear in the final Redemption but in even more powerful forms. This reload of the Egyptian plagues was prophesied by Micah.
I will show him wondrous deeds As in the days when You sallied forth from the land of Egypt. Micah 7:15
It is also written in Midrash Tanchuma, homiletic teachings collected around the fifth century, that “just as God struck the Egyptians with 10 plagues, so too He will strike the enemies of the Jewish people at the time of the Redemption.”
This concept was explained by Rabbi Bahya ben Asher, a 13th-century Spanish commentator, who wrote, “In Egypt, God used only part of His strength. When the final redemption comes, God will show much, much more of His power.”
The Houthi threat extends far beyond Israel’s borders. The group has fired hundreds of missiles at Israel and launched more than 100 attacks on commercial vessels in the vital Red Sea corridor since Israel’s defensive war in Gaza began in 2023. Their maritime terrorism has disrupted global shipping lanes and endangered innocent civilian crews from multiple nations.
Most alarmingly, the Houthis fired a cluster munition for the first time on August 22, marking their use of illegal weapons banned by international humanitarian law. These indiscriminate weapons pose particular dangers to civilian populations and demonstrate the terrorist organization’s complete disregard for the rules of warfare.
According to Israeli media, the Houthi group has launched 28 ballistic missiles and dozens of drones at Israel since March 18, when hostilities resumed following the temporary ceasefire. The systematic nature of these attacks reveals a coordinated campaign of terror designed to terrorize Israeli civilians and challenge the nation’s right to exist in peace.
