Israel attacks Houthi targets after missile strike

Israel says its fighter jets have carried out a series of attacks on military targets in Yemen belonging to the Iran-backed Houthi movement.

An Israeli military spokesman said the targets included Red Sea ports and energy infrastructure in the capital Sanaa.

Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported nine deaths at the Salif port and Ras Issa oil terminal in Hodeida province.

The attack came hours after a missile fired from Yemen was intercepted over central Israel. A school and several cars were damaged in Ramat Gan on the edge of Tel Aviv.

The Houthis, who control northwestern Yemen, began attacking Israel and international shipping soon after the Gaza war broke out in October 2023, saying their actions were in solidarity with the Palestinians.

The Israeli military said it has since launched hundreds of missiles and drones from Yemen into the country, most of which have been intercepted.

Israelis in Tel Aviv and surrounding areas were rushed to air raid shelters early Thursday morning when an incoming missile was shot down by an air defense system.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said a missile fired from Yemen toward Israeli territory was intercepted and found to have damaged a school in the Ramat Eiffel neighborhood of Ramat Gan. It added that no injuries were reported.

The Israel Defense Forces are investigating whether the school building collapsed due to partial missile or interceptor missile fragments. Education Minister Yoav Kish said he believed it was a “direct hit by a warhead that was probably intercepted”.

Two hours after the attack, the Israel Defense Forces announced that its fighter jets had struck Houthi military targets on Yemen’s west coast and inland.

An Israeli attack on the Red Sea port of Salif killed seven people, while two people were killed and one wounded at the nearby Ras Issa oil terminal, according to Houthi-controlled Al Masirah. Two other people were reportedly injured in the southern port of Hodeidah.

The TV station also said that the power plants in Haize and Daban, south and north of Sanaa, were also attacked.

Meshaal al-Rifi, director of General Electric Co., said the local power supply was affected by damage to distribution stations and fuel tanks.

IDF spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari said: “The Houthis have been launching attacks against Israel in violation of international law. The Houthi regime poses a threat to peace and security in the region.”

“Today, the Israel Defense Forces conducted precision strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen, including the port and energy infrastructure in Sanaa, which the Houthis have been exploiting to effectively advance their military operations.”

An Israeli military official said the operation was “planned” and that 14 jets and other associated aircraft “were already in the air” when the Houthis launched the missiles, according to the Financial Times.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Houthi leaders that “Israel’s long hand will also reach out to you.”

He added: “Whoever raises his hand against the State of Israel will have his hand cut off. Whoever harms us will be harmed sevenfold.”

Houthi armed spokesman Yahya Saraya said that the organization launched two “hypersonic” ballistic missiles at two “sensitive military targets” in the Tel Aviv area at the same time as Israel launched the attack. The operation was “successful” achieved its objectives”.

“Israeli aggression will not prevent Yemen and the Yemeni people from fulfilling their religious and moral obligations and responding to its massacres in the Gaza Strip, nor will it prevent Yemen from responding by continuing to support and strike all hostile targets with appropriate weapons,” he said. Such brutal aggression.

This is Israel’s third direct attack on the Houthis in five months.

In July, after a Houthi drone attack killed one person in Tel Aviv, the Israeli military attacked Hodeidah’s port and oil infrastructure. In September, after Houthi armed missiles attacked Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, the Houthi armed forces bombed Hodeidah again.

The United States and Britain have also carried out strikes against the Houthis and other military targets over the past year in response to attacks on global shipping in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

On Monday, U.S. Central Command said it was targeting a “critical command and control facility” in Sanaa that had been the center for coordinating the attack.

Since November 2023, the Houthis have attacked dozens of commercial ships with missiles, drones and small boats.

They said their actions were in support of the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. They claim (often falsely) that they target only ships with links to Israel, the United States, or the United Kingdom.