Israel Katz on Houthis: Whoever hits us will be hit sevenfold

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a joint statement today (Tuesday) explaining the rationale behind Israel's latest strikes against the Houthis in retaliation for the missile strike on Ben Gurion Airport.

According to the statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that "I have said many times that whoever attacks the State of Israel - their blood is on their own head. Yesterday I said that the Houthi attack would be met not with a 'one and done' - but with multiple strikes. So yesterday we delivered a strike, a heavy blow to the Hodeidah port. Today our aircraft attacked the airport in Sana'a, the airport that enables the terrorist army and the aerial entry into the terrorist state, which enables the missile fire against us."

He insisted that "our choice of when to respond, how to respond, and which targets to respond to - this is a calculation we make each time. And this also applies to the patron of the Houthis - Iran, without whose approval and long-term support, the Houthis could not maintain their criminal missile attacks on us."

Defense Minister Israel Katz, meanwhile, said that "the Houthi terrorist organization tried to hit Ben Gurion Airport, and in response, we destroyed the airport in Sana'a today. Additionally, we also hit other targets, following yesterday's strikes on the Hodeidah port and other national infrastructure we struck.

"Whoever harms us - we will harm them sevenfold.

"This is also a warning message to the head of the Iranian octopus: 'You bear direct responsibility for any attack by the Houthi tentacle against the State of Israel - and you will also bear the full consequences.'"