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Israeli warplanes have hit port and energy targets across Yemen, including its first strikes on the capital Sana’a, marking the third direct attack by Israel against Iran-backed Houthi militants this year.
The Israeli military said it had launched “precise strikes” against targets that “contributed to [the Houthis’] military actions”, including port facilities on the Red Sea coast at Hodeida, As-Salif and Ras Isa, as well as energy installations in Sana’a. Nine people were killed in the strikes, according to reports from Houthi-controlled media.
The strikes early on Thursday came shortly after the Houthis, who control Yemen, launched ballistic missiles at the country which were intercepted by Israel’s air defences. Residents of central Israel were woken by air raid sirens, and a school outside Tel Aviv was severely damaged by what authorities said were probably missile fragments.
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz issued a direct threat to the group’s leaders on Thursday, saying “Israel’s long hand will reach you too”.
“Whoever raises a hand against the State of Israel — his hand will be cut off. Whoever harms us — will be harmed sevenfold,” he added.
The Houthis began firing on merchant shipping in the Red Sea and launching drones and missiles at Israel after Gaza-based militant group Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, saying they were acting in solidarity with the Palestinians. Their assaults severely disrupted shipping through one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes.
Together with Hamas, Lebanese militants Hizbollah and Shia militias in Iraq and Syria, the Houthis formed an Iran-led “axis of resistance” whose capabilities have been severely degraded by Israel in recent months.
A multinational naval task force, led by US and UK forces, has attempted to protect merchant vessels in the region. On Monday it launched air strikes on what the US military said was a Houthi “command and control facility” in Sana’a.
The Houthis have launched “hundreds” of missiles and armed drones at Israel, according to the Israeli military, including most recently a long-range missile that targeted central Israel on Monday. An Israeli military official confirmed that jets were “already in the air” early on Thursday when the latest Houthi missile was fired.
“This operation was already planned . . . it’s not something you carry out within five minutes of a ballistic missile launch,” the official added.
A Houthi drone strike last July killed one person in Tel Aviv, in what was believed to be an operation targeting a US embassy building. That attack led to the first direct long-range strikes by Israel on Yemen, targeting port facilities in Hodeida. Continued Houthi missile barrages on Israel led to a subsequent bombing raid in September.
The Houthis have vowed to maintain their attacks on both Israel and international shipping until the war in Gaza ends.
General Yahya Sare’e, the Houthis’ military spokesperson, on Thursday claimed the group had launched two “hypersonic ballistic missiles” on Israeli military targets, calling it a “natural and legitimate response” to air strikes on Yemen.
“The Israeli aggression will not deter Yemen and the Yemenis from performing their religious and moral duty in responding to [Israel’s] massacres in the Gaza Strip,” the spokesman said in a statement.
Additional reporting by Ahmed Al Omran
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