An Israeli airstrike on Thursday, reportedly targeting a gathering of senior Houthi regime and military-terrorist leaders in Yemen, including the Houthi minister of defense, Mohamed al-Atifi, and chief of staff, Muhammad Abd al-Karim al-Ghamari, marks a major upgrade in Israeli intelligence monitoring of a distant Iranian proxy that has proven to be persistently evasive until now. 

The strike came four days after a previous Israeli strike targeted several Houthi sites, including a fuel depot that appears to have been tied to the Houthi missile industry. 

The attempted decapitation strike on Thursday against the Houthi leadership represents a significant shift that moves beyond previous Israeli targeting of Houthi infrastructure like ports and power plants.