Israeli fighter planes on Saturday struck Houthi military targets, including a power station and oil facilities, near Yemen’s Hodeidah port, killing at least three people and injuring 87 others, reported Reuters.
This came a day after the Iran-backed rebel group’s drone attack on an apartment block in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, which killed four persons and injured eight others.
A spokesperson for the Israeli military said that the Houthis had received weapons shipments from Iran via the Hodeidah port.
The Houthis’ Supreme Political Council warned of an “effective response” to the attack. The group would “not hesitate to strike vital targets of the Israeli enemy”, said Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree, according to Reuters.
Saturday’s attack mark Israel’s first military response to over 200 alleged Houthi attacks on its territory in recent months.
The Yemeni group began attacking Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea in November, in retaliation for the country’s war on Gaza.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said: “After nine months of continuous aerial attacks by the Houthis in Yemen toward Israel, IAF [Israeli Air Force] fighter jets conducted an extensive operational strike over 1,800km away against Houthi terrorist military targets.”
The Israeli military said on Sunday morning that it had shot down a missile fired from Yemen that was headed toward Israel’s air space, reported the BBC.
Egypt, which has been attempting to broker a ceasefire in Gaza – between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas – expressed “great concern” at the Israeli strike.
The attack has triggered fears that Israel’s war on the besieged Palestinian enclave could escalate into a regional conflict.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani warned against “the spread of war in the region as a result of the dangerous adventurism of the Zionists”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is scheduled to address the United States Congress in Washington DC on Wednesday, called on the international community to reign in Tehran and its proxies – the Houthis, Hamas and the Lebanese Shia Islamist militant group Hezbollah – and secure trade routes in the region.
“Whoever wants to see a stable and safe Middle East needs to stand against Iran’s axis of evil, and support Israel’s struggle against Iran and its proxies,” Netanyahu said.
Attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden have forced merchant ships away from the Suez Canal, a vital maritime trade route.
Israel’s war on Gaza began on October 7, after Hamas militants invaded southern Israel, killing 1,200 persons and taking over 200 hostages.
Since October, Israel has been carrying out unprecedented air and ground strikes on Gaza. The attacks have killed at least 39,289 persons, including over 15,000 children.
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