Yemen Monitor/Marib/Agencies:
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the Israeli occupation tested its capabilities to strike Iran by launching attacks on the Houthis in Yemen over the past months.
This came in a report by the US newspaper on Israeli operations inside Iran during the 12 days of June.
The newspaper stated: “Israel was able to test its ability to fly long distances with fighter jets when it targeted Houthi rebels in Yemen over the past year.”
It added: “Pilots had to learn how to fly in formations of six to 10 planes around a single refueling aircraft, and take turns refueling – multiple times – during the flight. They also had to learn how to perfectly position their planes so their missiles would drop within 15 to 20 seconds of each other for maximum effectiveness.”
This training was not possible in a small geographical area under Israeli occupation, which is only 290 miles long from north to south.
The newspaper noted that the Israelis had been preparing for the war that ended last Tuesday for years. Israeli ministers and security chiefs repeatedly voted against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, fearing igniting a war with Iran or angering Washington, which at the time preferred a diplomatic approach.
The U.S. entered the military conflict on June 22, 2025, with powerful strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan. This US intervention, which came in support of Israel, was crucial in achieving Israeli objectives that Israel could not achieve on its own. U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire on June 24, 2025, after a 12-day campaign.
