Israeli fighter jets attack Houthi targets in Yemen after Tel Aviv attack

By Ari Rabinovitch and Enas Alashray

JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) – Israeli warplanes attacked Houthi military targets near the Yemeni port of Hodeidah on Saturday, killing at least three people and wounding 87, a day after a drone launched by the Iran-backed group struck Israel’s economic hub Tel Aviv.

Al-Masirah TV, the main news channel of the Yemeni Houthi movement, quoted the Ministry of Health as saying that most of the injured suffered severe burns in the air strikes on oil facilities and a power plant.

Hodeidah residents told Reuters by phone that explosions were heard throughout the city during an intense bombardment. Al-Masirah television reported that civil defense forces and firefighters were trying to extinguish fires in the port’s oil tanks.

An Israeli military spokesman said the port was used by the Houthis to receive arms shipments from Iran. The targets, located more than 1,700 kilometers from Israel, included dual-use sites such as energy infrastructure, he said.

Israel had informed its allies before the attack, which the military said was carried out by Israeli F-15 fighter jets, that all aircraft had returned safely.

The Houthis’ Supreme Political Council announced an “effective response” to the attacks. The Houthis’ military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said the Houthis “will not hesitate to attack vital targets of the Israeli enemy.”

The attack on Yemen, which Israeli officials said came after the Houthis had already carried out more than 200 attacks on Israel, underscored fears that the Gaza war, sparked by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, could escalate into a regional conflict.

“The fire currently burning in Hodeidah is visible throughout the Middle East and its significance is clear,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement.

“The Houthis have attacked us over 200 times. The first time they harmed an Israeli citizen, we struck. And we will do so wherever it may be necessary.”

On Friday, an Iranian-made long-range drone launched from Yemen struck central Tel Aviv in an attack claimed by the Houthis, killing one man and wounding four others.

The attack followed an escalation in daily firefights between Israeli forces and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon and came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing for his trip to Washington, where he will speak before the US Congress.

Netanyahu called on the international community to increase pressure on Tehran and its proxies – the Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah – to help secure international trade routes.

“Those who want a stable and secure Middle East must oppose the axis of evil in Iran and support Israel’s fight against Iran and its proxies,” Netanyahu said.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani condemned the Israeli attacks and “warned of the risk of escalation of tensions and spread of war in the region as a result of the dangerous adventurism of the Zionists,” Iranian state media reported.

In a statement, Hezbollah also condemned the attack on Hodeidah, calling it “a foolish step … that marks a new and dangerous phase in the vitally important ongoing confrontation.”

As the war in Gaza progressed, the Houthis increased their attacks on Israel and Western targets, declaring they were acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.

They began attacking Western ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Their attacks have turned world trade upside down by forcing shipowners to divert their ships from the crucial shortcut through the Suez Canal. Since February, they have led to retaliatory strikes by the US and Britain.

“A brutal Israeli aggression targeted civilian buildings, oil facilities and a power plant in Hodeidah with the aim of pressuring Yemen to end its support for Gaza,” Mohammed Abdulsalam, chief negotiator for the Houthi movement, said on X.

He said the attack would “only strengthen our resolve, steadfastness and continuity.”

Egypt, which is trying to help broker a ceasefire and release hostages in the Gaza Strip, said it was following the Israeli attack “with great concern.”

On October 7, Hamas stormed Israeli cities, killing around 1,200 people, according to Israeli sources, and taking over 250 hostages back to Gaza. Since then, nearly 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip, according to health authorities in the enclave.

(Reporting by Enas Alashray, Mohammed Ghobari, Hatem Maher, Ahmed Tolba and Ari Rabinovitch; additional reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Giles Elgood, Alexandra Hudson, Timothy Heritage and Daniel Wallis)