SANAA, Yemen: A series of Israeli air strikes on Yemen’s capital and a port city on Thursday killed at least nine people, Houthi media reported as Israel’s military said it had attacked military targets belonging to Houthi fighters.
Israel said it struck ports and energy infrastructure it alleges are used by Houthis, after intercepting a missile fired by the Yemeni group.
“The targets attacked are used by the Houthi forces for their military operations,” the military said in a statement.
Yemen’s Al Masirah TV said seven people were killed in an Israeli attack on the port of as-Salif and the rest in two strikes on the Ras Isa oil facility; both are located in the western province of Hodeidah.
“The enemy launched four aggressive raids targeting the port … and two raids targeting” an oil facility, Al Masirah reported.
The series of “aggressive raids” also targeted two central power stations south and north of the capital, Sanaa, the TV channel reported.
Yemen’s SABA news agency also reported that four raids targeted Hodeidah, with two hitting the Ras Isa oil facility, killing and injuring some of its employees.
Israel’s military said it “conducted precise strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen — including ports and energy infrastructure in Sanaa, which the Houthis have been using in ways that effectively contributed to their military actions.”
The announcement came shortly after Israel said it had intercepted a missile fired from Yemen.
The strikes were the second time this week that Israel’s military has intercepted a missile from Yemen.
On Monday, the Houthis claimed a missile launch they said was aimed at “a military target of the Israeli enemy in the occupied area of Yaffa” — a reference to Israel’s Tel Aviv area.
Also Monday, an Israeli navy missile boat intercepted a drone in the Mediterranean after it was launched from Yemen, the military said.
The Houthis have said they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians and pledged Monday to continue operations “until the aggression on Gaza stops and the siege is lifted.”
Houthis’ Strikes on Military Targets
On Thursday, the Houthis said they had carried out an operation targeting two “sensitive military targets” in Israel’s Yaffa area, south of Tel Aviv, with two ballistic missiles, Al Jazeera reported.
“The operation has successfully achieved its objectives,” read a statement published on Yemen’s state news agency Saba. It said the attacks took place “simultaneously” with Israeli air raids on civilian infrastructure in Sanaa and Hodeidah.
“The Israeli aggression will not deter Yemen and the Yemenis from performing their religious and moral duty in responding to its massacres in the Gaza Strip,” it said.
Houthi fighters in Yemen have carried out months of attacks on Israel, and shipping linked to Israel in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, in what it says is a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians amid Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 45,129 people.
Posting on X after Israel’s strikes, Defence Minister Israel Katz said: “I warn the leaders of the Houthi group: Israel’s long hand will reach you as well. Whoever raises a hand against the state of Israel, his hand will be cut off; whoever harms, will be harmed sevenfold.”
Iran, Hamas Slam Israel Attack
Iran condemned Israeli strikes on ports and energy sites in Yemen as a “flagrant violation”.
Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the attacks were “a flagrant violation of the principles and norms of international law and the UN Charter”.
Meanwhile, Hamas said that Israel’s strikes in Yemen were a “dangerous development,” while its armed wing called for more attacks on Israel.
“We regard this escalation as a dangerous development and an extension of the aggression against our Palestinian people, Syria and the Arab region,” Hamas said in a statement.
Hamas’s armed wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, called on the Houthis to launch more attacks on Israel.
“We commend the missile attack carried out by our loyal brothers, the Ansar Allah in Yemen, targeting the heart of the Zionist entity,” the group said in a separate statement.
“We praise their steadfast support for Gaza and call on them to escalate their attacks until the occupation submits and ends its genocidal war.”
