Israel attacks Houthis after missile attack

Israel said its warplanes had carried out a series of strikes against military targets in Yemen controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi movement in response to missile and drone attacks.

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

The Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV reported that nine people died in the port of Salif and the oil center of Ras Issa, in the province of Hudaydah.

The strikes came hours after a missile fired from Yemen was narrowly intercepted in central Israel. Part of the missile still hit a school in Ramat Gan on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, destroying the building.

The Houthis, who control northwestern Yemen, began attacking Israel and international ships shortly after the Gaza war began in October 2023, claiming they were working in coordination with the Palestinians.

The Israeli military says that approximately 400 missiles and drones have been launched into the country from Yemen, most of which have been intercepted.

On Thursday, Israelis in and around Tel Aviv were sent rushing to bomb shelters as an incoming missile was shot down by the air force.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the missile was fired from Yemen and headed for Israeli territory and said it was intercepted.

Shrapnel fell in central Israel, including a missile warhead that hit a school in the Ramat Efal neighborhood of Ramat Gan, it added. No injuries were reported.

Two hours after the attack, the IDF announced that its warplanes had hit Houthi forces on Yemen’s west coast and in the center of the country.

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

The television station also said that power stations in Haiz and Dhahban, south and north of Sanaa, were hit.

The director of the General Electricity Corporation, Meshaal al-Rifi, was quoted as saying that local electricity was affected by damage to power stations and fuel tanks.

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

“Today, the IDF carried out direct strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen – including ports and energy infrastructure in Sanaa, which the Houthis have been using in ways that have successfully contributed to their military operations.”

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 missile, according to the Financial Times.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “After Hamas, Hezbollah and the Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis are probably the last part of Iran’s evil. They found out, and will find out, the hard way that anyone who harms Israel pays a very heavy price.”

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

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group launched two “hypersonic” missiles at two “military critical” sites in the Tel Aviv area at the same time as the Israeli strike, and that the operation “successfully achieved its objectives”.

“Israel’s violence will not prevent Yemenis and Yemenis from performing their religious and moral duty in response to the killing of people in the Gaza Strip, and to respond to this brutal violence by continuing to support and attack all brutal targets with appropriate weapons,” it added.

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

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

The US and the UK also attacked Houthi weapons and other military targets last year in response to global naval attacks in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

On Monday, US Central Command said it was targeting a “key command and control center” in Sanaa that was the center of coordination for the attack.

The Houthis have targeted dozens of merchant ships with missiles, drones and small boat attacks since November 2023. They have sunk two ships, seized 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 lying – that they only target ships bound for Israel, the US or the UK.