Israel attacks Houthi targets after rocket attack

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

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

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

The attacks came hours after a missile fired from Yemen was intercepted over central Israel. In Ramat Gan, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, a school and several cars were damaged.

The Houthis, who control northwest Yemen, began attacks on Israel and international shipping shortly 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 since been fired from Yemen into the country, most of which have been intercepted.

In the early hours of Thursday, Israelis in Tel Aviv and the surrounding area rushed to bomb shelters when an incoming rocket was shot down by air defenses.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said a rocket was fired from Yemen into Israeli territory and that after interception, damage was found at a school in the Ramat Efel neighborhood of Ramat Gan. No injuries were reported, it said.

The IDF is investigating whether the school building collapsed after being hit by part of 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 warplanes had attacked Houthi military targets on Yemen’s west coast and interior.

An Israeli attack on the Red Sea port of Salif killed seven people, while two people were killed and one injured at the nearby Ras Issa oil terminal, according to the Houthi-run Al Masirah. Two other people were reportedly injured in the southern port of Hudaydah.

The TV station also reported that power plants in Haiz and Dhahban, south and north of Sanaa, had been attacked.

General Electricity Corporation director Meshaal al-Rifi was quoted as saying that local power supplies had been affected by damage to power distribution stations and fuel tanks.

“The Houthis have carried out attacks against Israel that violate international law, and the Houthi regime poses a threat to peace and security in the region,” said IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.

“Today, the IDF carried out precision strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen – including ports and energy infrastructure in Sanaa, which the Houthis have exploited in ways that have effectively contributed to their military actions.”

According to the Financial Times, 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 fired their rockets.

Defense Minister Israel Katz, meanwhile, warned Houthi leaders that “Israel’s long hand will reach you too.”

“Whoever lifts up a hand against the State of Israel, his hand will be cut off. Whoever harms us – he will be harmed sevenfold,” he added.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group fired two “hypersonic missiles” at two “sensitive military targets” in the Tel Aviv area at the same time as the Israeli strikes and that the operation “successfully achieved its objectives.”

“Israeli aggression will not deter Yemen and Yemenis from fulfilling their religious and moral duty by responding to the massacres in Gaza and responding to this brutal aggression by continuing to support and attack all enemy targets with appropriate weapons ” he added.

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

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

In response to attacks on global shipping in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the US and Britain have also carried out attacks on Houthi weapons and other military targets over the past year.

On Monday, U.S. Central Command said it had attacked a “key command and control facility” in Sanaa that served as a hub for coordinating attacks.

The Houthis have attacked dozens of commercial vessels with missiles, drones and small boats since November 2023. They sank two ships, captured a third and killed four crew members.

They claim they support the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. They have claimed – often falsely – that they are targeting ships associated only with Israel, the US or the UK.