On June 3rd, the Houthis launched a ballistic missile toward Eilat, which was intercepted by Israeli air-defense systems.
On June 5th, the Houthis released a video showing the missile launch, in which they claimed was the first operational use of the Palestine-type missile. The Houthis even bothered painting the missile with the Palestinian flag and in the shape of a kufiyah.
We estimate that the missile seen in the video is from the Fattah family, maybe an Iranian Kheibar Shekan (there is a possibility of Kheibar Shekan 2).
The Kheibar Shekan is a medium-range ballistic missile, first introduced in Iran in 2022. It is propelled by solid-fuel, with a terminal phase maneuverable warhead (MaRV), and it has relatively good accuracy. The missile’s fuselage is made of composite material, in order to save weight and increase the range and payload. Different sources suggest that the Kheibar Shekan’s range is 1450 km with a 500-700 kg warhead.
It should be mentioned that the minimum range from Yemen to Eilat is 1,600 km and so it is very likely that the Houthis made certain changes to the missile in order to extend its range.
Iran has put forth extensive effort in arming the Houthis and other proxies in the region throughout the years. It does so by supplying weapons directly but also through establishing local knowledge and manufacturing infrastructure. This ensures these proxies are not entirely reliant on the Iranian supply of weapons.
This is not the first time the Houthis have launched ballistic missiles at Israel as part of their support for Hamas. These attempted attacks help Iran and the Houthis (as well as other proxies) study Israel’s defense systems, their strengths and weaknesses, methods of operations, etc. As we previously published, Hezbollah operates much in the same way, especially with regards to operating UAV’s and targeting Iron dome systems.
