Israel intercepts missile from Yemen after airstrike on Houthi port

Although it was not immediately clear who fired the rocket, a Houthis military spokesman had vowed retaliation for Saturday’s Israeli air strikes on Hodeida, a port city in Yemen controlled by the rebel group. Spokesman Yahya Saree said the Israeli strikes hit the port, a power plant and a fuel tank.

On Sunday, Saree said his group fired “a number of rockets” at targets in the southern Israeli port city of Eilat. It was not immediately clear whether the two reported attacks were one and the same. Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli army said air defense sirens had sounded in the Eilat area.

The Israeli attacks on Saturday were in response to a rare drone attack on Tel Aviv on Friday that the Houthis claimed responsibility for. The attack killed one person and struck just meters from a branch of the US embassy.

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations, told reporters on Sunday that the airstrikes in Yemen were carried out by a dozen aircraft – including fighter jets and tanker planes. The “long-range strikes” hit targets about 1,700 kilometers (1,100 miles) from Israel, the official said.

The Israeli attack on the port of Hodeidah, a major import hub for the impoverished country, sparked massive fires. Netanyahu said the port was being used “as a gateway for deadly weapons supplied by Iran to the Houthis.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s response to the drone attack had “made it clear to our enemies that there is no place that the long arm of the State of Israel will not reach.”

After the Gaza war broke out in October, the Houthis began attacking ships near the Yemeni coast to pressure Israel to end its military operations in the Gaza Strip. A US-led naval task force responded to the attacks but was unable to stop them completely.

• Netanyahu is scheduled to travel to Washington this week. to address Congress and meet with President Biden, whose relationship with the Israeli president has become more strained during the war. The prime minister’s office confirmed that Netanyahu and Biden will meet at noon on Tuesday, amid doubts over whether the meeting will take place due to Biden’s coronavirus diagnosis. Netanyahu’s address to lawmakers at the invitation of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is scheduled for Wednesday.
• Israeli troops continue their operations in the Gaza Strip. the IDF said. In the Rafah area, Israeli forces discovered “mortar shells ready to fire,” while an Israeli aircraft identified an opposition militant group that was then “eliminated” by IDF troops, it said. Troops also discovered and destroyed tunnel shafts and underground infrastructure in the Tal al-Sultan area, the IDF said. In the central Gaza Strip, IDF troops discovered “various types of weapons,” it said.
• At least 38,983 people were killed and 89,727 Injured in Gaza since the beginning of the war, said the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and fighters but says the majority of the dead are women and children. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in the October 7 Hamas attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and it says 326 soldiers have been killed since military operations began in Gaza.