Israel is signaling a wider campaign against Houthi militants in Yemen, a mountainous and impoverished country more than 1,000 miles from Israeli territory.

An American missile defense system was used for the first time to intercept a retaliatory attack launched by Yemen’s Houthis rebels at Israel’s central airport overnight as threats continue to escalate between the Jewish state and Iran’s terror proxies.

An airstrike, whose origin remains unidentified, struck Sanaa on Friday, following deadly Israeli raids the day before on rebel-controlled sites in Yemen, including the capital’s international airport.