The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen early Sunday morning. Israeli warplanes strike multiple Houthi targets A country on the Arabian Peninsula.
The Israeli strikes were the first known response to repeated Houthi attacks in response to deadly drone strikes by the Houthis in Tel Aviv. nine months war Against Hamas, the eruption of violence between the distant enemies threatens to open a new front as Israel battles a series of Iranian proxies across the region.
The Israeli military confirmed late Saturday that it had carried out airstrikes on the western Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, a Houthi stronghold and a key entry point for aid and other supplies. The Israeli military said the strikes, carried out by dozens of aircraft including U.S.-made F-15 and F-35 fighter jets, were in response to hundreds of Houthi attacks.
Yemen’s Health Ministry said six people were killed and 83 wounded in Israeli airstrikes, with many suffering severe burns from the massive fire. The ministry said three people were missing in a statement shared by Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV.
/ AP
Houthi rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam posted on X that “blatant Israeli aggression” had targeted fuel storage facilities and a power plant in the province.
“The Israeli enemy specifically chose those targets to target the Yemeni economy,” said rebel leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi.
The Israeli military said the surface-to-surface missile launched on Sunday was intercepted before it reached Israeli territory.
Israel, along with the US, UK and other Western allies with troops in the region, has intercepted almost all of the Houthi missiles and drones. But early Friday morning, a Houthi drone slipped through Israeli air defenses and crashed in Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial and cultural capital, killing one person.
Israeli air force officials said on Sunday that human error had led them to classify the drone as non-threatening. Israel was tracking another drone launched from Yemen and approaching Israel from the east.
The Israeli military said Saturday’s airstrikes on Hodeidah, about 1,700 kilometers (more than 1,000 miles) from Israel, were among the air force’s most complex and far-reaching operations. It said the port was used to transport Iranian weapons to Yemen.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant vowed to carry out similar strikes “wherever necessary.”
The Houthis are one of several Iran-backed groups that have joined Hamas in attacking Israel since the ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip began on October 7 following attacks by Palestinian militants.
In addition to fighting Hamas, Israeli forces are engaged in daily clashes with the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group, raising fears that the fighting could escalate into a full-scale war in Lebanon and beyond.
Yemen has been embroiled in civil war since 2014. Iran-backed Houthi movement It took over most of the north and forced the internationally recognized government to flee Sanaa. A Saudi-led coalition intervened to support government forces, and over time the conflict degenerated into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The war has killed more than 150,000 people, including combatants and civilians, and has resulted in one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.
The Houthis said the Israeli attack would only strengthen the resolve of the Yemeni people and military to support the Gaza Strip. “There will be a strong attack,” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council, wrote on X.
“All this will not stop the Yemeni people, the Yemeni leadership, the army or the missile units from attacking Israeli institutions,” said Moatasem Abdel Salah, a Sana’a resident.
Since January, US and UK forces have been attacking targets in Yemen in response to attacks on commercial vessels by Houthi rebels that they described as retaliation for Israeli actions in the Gaza war. However, many of the ships targeted were not linked to Israel.
Officials said on Sunday that Houthi rebels repeatedly attacked a Liberian-flagged container ship transiting the Red Sea, the latest attack by the rebels on the vital maritime trade route.
The Royal Navy’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said the vessel’s captain had reported an attack by three small Houthi vessels, an unmanned Houthi aircraft and missiles off the coast of Mocha, Yemen, causing “minor damage” to the vessel. The Joint Maritime Information Centre, a coalition overseen by the US Navy, identified the vessel as the Pumba and reported that “all crew on board are safe.”
Early Sunday morning, the Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack on the Pumba people.
Analysts and Western intelligence agencies have long accused Iran of providing weapons to the Houthis, a charge Tehran denies. So far, joint airstrikes have done little to curb the Houthis.
The Houthis have long-range ballistic missiles, small cruise missiles and “suicide drones,” all of which, according to weapons experts, can reach southern Israel. The Houthis are open about their arsenal, regularly parading new missiles through the streets of Sana’a.
