Israel hits Houthi targets after missile attack

Israel has said its fighter jets carried out a series of strikes against military targets in Yemen belonging to the Iran-backed Houthi movement.

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

Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported that nine people were killed at the port of Salif and at the Ras Issa oil terminal, both in Hudaydah province.

The attacks 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 outskirts of Tel Aviv.

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

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

Early Thursday, Israelis in and around Tel Aviv were sent scurrying to air raid shelters when an incoming missile was shot down by air defenses.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said a missile was fired from Yemen into Israeli territory and damage was identified at a school in the Ramat Efel neighborhood of Ramat Gan after the interception. There were no injuries, he added.

The IDF is investigating whether the school building collapsed after being hit by the missile or fragments of the interceptor missile. Education Minister Yoav Kisch said he believed it was “a direct hit from a warhead, after it was probably intercepted.”

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

According to the Houthi-run Al Masirah, seven people were killed in an Israeli attack on the Red Sea port of Salif, while two people were killed and one was injured at the nearby Ras Issa oil terminal. Two others were wounded in the port of Hudaydah, just to the south.

The TV channel also said the Haiz and Dhahban power plants, south and north of Sanaa, had been hit.

General Electricity Corporation director Meshaal al-Rifi said the local electricity supply had been affected by damage to electricity distribution stations and fuel tanks.

“The Houthis have been carrying out attacks against Israel in violation of international law, and the Houthi regime is a threat to peace and security in the region,” said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesman.

“Today, the IDF conducted targeted strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen, including ports and energy infrastructure in Sanaa, which the Houthis have been using in ways that have effectively contributed to their military actions.”

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

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Houthi leaders that “the long hand of Israel will reach you, too.”

“Whoever raises his hand against the State of Israel, his hand will be cut off. Whoever harms us will be harmed seven times,” he added.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group had launched two “hypersonic” ballistic missiles at two “sensitive military targets” in the Tel Aviv area at the same time as the Israeli strikes, and that the operation had “achieved successfully achieve their goals.”

“Israeli aggression will not deter Yemen and Yemenis from fulfilling their religious and moral duty in responding to its massacres in the Gaza Strip, as well as responding to this brutal aggression by continuing to support and strike all hostile targets with the right weapons,” he said. added

It was Israel’s third direct attack on the Houthis in five months.

In July, the Israeli military attacked Hudaydah’s port and oil infrastructure after a Houthi drone strike killed one person in Tel Aviv. It bombed Hudaydah again in September after a Houthi missile targeted Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv.

The US and UK have also carried out strikes against Houthi weapons 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, US Central Command said it had targeted a “key command and control facility” in Sanaa that had been a hub for coordinating the attacks.

The Houthis have attacked dozens of merchant ships with missiles, drones and small boat attacks since November 2023. They have sunk two ships, captured a third and killed four crew members.

They say they are acting in support of the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. They have claimed – often falsely – that they only target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK.