Israel conducted air strikes on the Houthi-controlled Red Sea port of Hodeidah in Yemen, following a drone attack by the group on Tel Aviv the previous day.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant stated that the strikes were intended to send a clear message to the Houthi movement.
“The fire currently burning in Hodeidah is seen across the Middle East, and the significance is clear,” Gallant said.
Houthi-linked news outlets reported that three people were killed and more than 80 injured in the strikes. Houthi official Mohammed Abdulsalam described the attacks as “brutal Israeli aggression against Yemen.”
On Sunday morning, the Israeli military reported intercepting a missile fired from Yemen before it entered Israeli airspace. Air sirens were activated in Israel’s Red Sea port of Eilat due to the potential of falling shrapnel.
Houthi official Mohammed Abdulsalam claimed that the Israeli strikes aimed to pressure the Houthis to cease their support for Palestinians in Gaza, asserting that such support would continue.
This marks the first instance of Israel responding directly to what it claims have been hundreds of Yemeni drone and missile attacks on its territory in recent months.
Footage from Hodeidah on Saturday evening showed massive fires. The Houthi-run government in Sanaa reported that Israel targeted oil storage facilities near the shore and a nearby power plant.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) 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 [1,118 miles) away against Houthi terrorist military targets” in the area of the port of Hodeidah.
“The IDF is capable of operating anywhere required and will strike any force that endangers Israelis,” the statement said, adding that Saturday’s operation was codenamed Outstretched Arm.
Mr Gallant said the Israeli jets had struck the group because they had harmed Israelis.
“The Houthis attacked us over 200 times. The first time that they harmed an Israeli citizen, we struck them. And we will do this in any place where it may be required,” he said.
Speaking on Saturday evening after the attacks, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country would defend itself “by all means”.
“Anyone who harms us will pay a very heavy price for their aggression,” he said in a televised address, claiming the port was an entry point for Iranian weapons.
He also stated that the strikes demonstrated to Israel’s enemies that there was no place beyond its reach.
On Friday, a block of flats in Tel Aviv was hit by what an Israeli military official identified as an Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), modified for long-distance flight.
The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack and vowed to carry out more. The attack resulted in the death of a 50-year-old man who had recently moved to Israel from Belarus and injured eight others.
The Israeli military official noted that their defense forces had detected the incoming drone but did not attempt to shoot it down due to “human error.” Previously, almost all Houthi missiles and drones fired toward Israel had been intercepted, with none known to have reached Tel Aviv.
The Houthi Supreme Political Council, the movement’s executive body, was quoted by Houthi-run media on Saturday evening, saying there would be an “effective response” to the airstrikes.
Although Israel had not previously struck the Houthis in Yemen, the US and UK have been conducting air strikes against the group for months to prevent attacks on commercial shipping in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
The Houthis initially claimed they were targeting ships connected with Israel or heading to or from there. However, many of the vessels had no connection with Israel, and since the air strikes began, the group has also targeted vessels linked to the UK and US.
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