Israeli fighter jets struck Houthi military targets in the area of Hodeida port in Yemen on Saturday, the Israeli military said, a day after a drone launched by the group hit Israel’s economic hub Tel Aviv.
Al-Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by Yemen’s Houthi movement, reported that the strikes were directed against oil facilities in the port and caused fatalities.
An Israeli military official said the operation hit dual use targets including energy infrastructure. Israel had informed allies ahead of the strike, which the military said was carried out by Israeli F-15 fighters which all returned safely.
The Houthis’ Supreme Political Council said there would be an “effective response” to the Israeli airstrikes.
The strike on Yemen, which the official said came after more than 220 Houthi attacks on Israel, underlined fears that the Gaza war could spiral into a regional conflict.
“The fire that is currently burning in Hodeidah is seen across the Middle East and the significance is clear,” Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement.
“The Houthis attacked us over 200 times. The first time that they harmed an Israeli citizen, we struck them. And we will do this in any place where it may be required.”
On Friday, a long-range drone launched from Yemen hit the centre of Tel Aviv in an attack claimed by the Houthis killed one man and wounded four others.
That attack followed an escalation in the daily exchange of fire between Israeli forces and the Hizbollah militia in southern Lebanon and comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to travel to Washington where he is due to address the US Congress.
As the war in Gaza has gone on, the Houthis have stepped up attacks against Israel and Western targets, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.
They began attacking Western ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden after Israel invaded the Gaza Strip following last year’s attack by Hamas on southern Israel.
“A brutal Israeli aggression targeted civilian buildings, oil facilities and power station in Hodeidah aiming at pressuring Yemen to stop supporting Gaza,” Mohammed Abdulsalam, chief negotiator for Houthi movement, said on X.
He said the attack would “only increase our determination, steadfastness, continuity.”
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