By Ari Rabinovitch and Enas Alashray, Reuters
A huge column of fire erupting in the Yemeni rebel-held port city of Hodeida on 20 July after reports Israeli strikes had hit a fuel depot in the port. Photo: AFP / Ansarullah Media Center
Israeli fighter jets struck Houthi military targets in the area of Hodeidah port in Yemen on Saturday, the Israeli military said, a day after a drone launched by the Iranian-backed group hit Israel's economic hub Tel Aviv.
Al-Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by Yemen's Houthi movement, reported that the strikes were directed against oil facilities in the port and caused fatalities.
Hodeidah residents told Reuters by phone that explosions were heard throughout the city during an intensive bombardment and Al-Masirah TV said civil defence forces and firefighters were trying to extinguish fires in the port's oil tanks.
An Israeli military official said the operation hit dual use targets including energy infrastructure. Israel had informed allies ahead of the strike, which the military said was carried out by Israeli F-15 fighters which all returned safely.
The Houthis' Supreme Political Council said there would be an "effective response" to the Israeli airstrikes. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree added that "they will not hesitate to strike vital targets of the Israeli enemy".
The strike on Yemen, which Israeli officials said came after more than 220 Houthi attacks on Israel, underlined fears that the Gaza war, triggered by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October, could spiral into a regional conflict.
"The fire that is currently burning in Hodeidah is seen across the Middle East and the significance is clear," Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement.
"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."
On Friday, a long-range Iranian-made drone launched from Yemen hit the centre of Tel Aviv in an attack claimed by the Houthis, killing one man and wounded four others.
That attack followed an escalation in the daily exchange of fire between Israeli forces and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon and comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to travel to Washington where he is due to address the US Congress.
Netanyahu called on the international community to step up pressure on Tehran and its proxies - the Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah - and in doing so help secure international trade routes.
"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.
As the war in Gaza has gone on, the Houthis have stepped up attacks against Israel and Western targets, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.
They began attacking Western ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden after Israel invaded the Gaza Strip following last year's attack by Hamas on southern Israel.
"A brutal Israeli aggression targeted civilian buildings, oil facilities and power station in Hodeidah aiming at pressuring Yemen to stop supporting Gaza," Mohammed Abdulsalam, chief negotiator for Houthi movement, said on X.
He said the attack would "only increase our determination, steadfastness, continuity".
Egypt, which has been trying to help broker a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, said it was following "with great concern" the Israeli strike. Hezbollah condemned the port strike and said it stood beside Yemen.
Hamas stormed Israeli towns on 7 October, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, nearly 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, according to health authorities in the enclave.
- Reuters
