Defense Minister Israel Katz warned the Houthi rebels that Israel would “behead” its leaders as it did with Hamas.

Israeli Defense Minister Katz publicly acknowledged for the first time that Israel had assassinated Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and warned that the Houthis in Yemen would also receive a “severe blow.”

Speaking at a memorial event for Defense Department personnel on Monday night, Katz said Israel had “dealt a serious blow to the axis of evil, and we will also deal a serious blow to the Houthi terrorist group in Yemen, which remains the last surviving group.”

“When the Houthi terrorist group launches missiles at Israel, I want to send them a clear message at the beginning of my speech: We defeated Hamas, we defeated Hezbollah, we blinded Iran’s defense systems and destroyed them. production system, we have overthrown the (Bashar) Assad regime in Syria,” Katz said.

Katz added that Israel will “destroy the (Houthi) strategic infrastructure and we will behead their leaders — just as we did to Haniyeh, Sinwar and Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon – We will do this in Hodeida and Sanaa (Yemen),” referring to the subsequent killings of Hamas Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The Houthis have launched multiple missile attacks on Israel in recent months, including an attack on Tel Aviv on Saturday using what the Houthis said was a hypersonic ballistic missile.

The missile evaded Israeli defenses and hit a park in Jaffa, causing minor injuries to more than a dozen people.

Haniyeh was assassinated on July 31 while visiting Tehran to attend the inauguration of the Iranian president. Massoud Pezeshkian.

According to Iranian official media reports at the time, the Hamas leader and his bodyguard were hit and killed by an “air-guided artillery shell” at a special residence for veterans in northern Tehran at around 2 a.m. local time.

Iranian and Palestinian officials have blamed Israel for the assassination, but Israeli officials have so far neither confirmed nor denied involvement.

Haniyeh’s death sparked outrage across Palestine and raised fears of a wider regional conflict, with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promising “severe punishment” in retaliation.

In October, Iran fired a series of missiles at several Israeli cities in what it said was retaliation for the killings of leaders of its allies Hamas and Hezbollah.

The Israeli military said there were only “a few” attacks in central and southern parts of the country, while Israel’s emergency services said two people were injured by falling shrapnel in the Tel Aviv area.

No Israeli deaths were reported. The Palestinian Authority said a man was killed by falling debris in the occupied West Bank.