HODEIDA, Yemen: Israel attacked Yemen’s Houthi-held Hodeida port on Tuesday, saying it targeted infrastructure used by the Iran-backed militants, who reported a dozen strikes on the area.
Israel has stepped up attacks on the Houthis, killing their prime minister and nearly half of his cabinet last month and leaving dozens dead in strikes last week mainly targeting the militants’ military media operation.
The Houthis’ Al-Masirah television said “12 Israeli enemy air strikes targeted the port of Hodeida.”
Military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group’s air defenses confronted “Israeli enemy aircraft launching an aggression against our country.”
The Israeli military, after warning people to flee, said it struck “a military infrastructure site belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime at the Hodeida port in Yemen.”
It also accused the group of using the port “for the transfer of weapons supplied by the Iranian regime, in order to execute attacks against the State of Israel and its allies.”
A truck driver at Hodeida port told AFP he had left his workplace following the Israeli warning.
“Other civilians working there have also left,” he said.
In a statement on X, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that the Houthis would “continue to suffer blows and pay painful prices for any attempt to attack the State of Israel.”
Later, the Israeli military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen that had set off air raid sirens in Jerusalem and elsewhere.
The Houthis claimed the attack, saying they fired a ballistic missile targeting the Jaffa region near Tel Aviv.
Military spokesman Saree also reported drone attacks aimed at Ramon airport in southern Israel.
Since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023, the Houthis have launched repeated drone and missile attacks against Israel claiming solidarity with the Palestinians.
In response, Israel has carried out rounds of retaliatory strikes in Yemen, mainly targeting infrastructure such as ports, power stations and the international airport in Sanaa.
On Wednesday, Israeli air strikes hit the Houthi armed forces’ media operation in Sanaa and other targets in Jawf province, killing 46 people and wounding more than 160, according to the group.
In August, Israeli air strikes near Sanaa killed Houthi prime minister Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser Al-Rahawi, nine ministers and two cabinet officials.
The killings were the most high-profile assassinations of Houthi officials during nearly two years of hostilities with Israel over the Gaza war.