According to Yemeni sources, at least three people were killed in the Israeli airstrike. As the Houthi-affiliated television station Al-Masirah reported on Sunday night, citing the health authority, 87 people were injured.
Fighter jets targeted “military targets of the Houthi terror regime in the area of the port of Hodeidah,” the Israeli army said on Saturday. The air strikes were a response to “hundreds of attacks” by the rebels on Israel in recent months. According to Houthi sources, 80 people were injured.
Houthi spokesmen confirmed an Israeli attack on “civilian facilities” in Yemen. The targets were oil and electricity facilities. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the militia was preparing for a “long war” with Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack in Yemen “makes it clear to our enemies that there is no place that Israel’s long arm will not reach.” Weapons from Iran entered the country via the attacked port of Hodeidah, said the Israeli head of government.
According to experts, these are the first attacks claimed by Israel on Yemen, some 2,000 kilometers away. “The fire that is currently burning in Hodeidah can be seen throughout the Middle East, and the meaning is clear,” said Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. “The blood of Israeli citizens has a price,” he stressed. “We have made this clear in Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen and other places – if they dare to attack us, the result will be the same.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed in a televised address: “Anyone who harms us will pay a very high price for their aggression.” Israel will defend itself “by all means.”
Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv
On Friday night, a person was killed in a Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv. Gallant then promised retaliation. The militia had already attacked Israel more than 200 times – now that it had harmed an Israeli for the first time, Israel had attacked, he said on Saturday.
Army spokesman Daniel Hagari said the Houthi militia was using the port in Hodeidah “as the main supply route for the transfer of Iranian weapons.” This also applies to the drone that was used in the attack on Tel Aviv.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the attack in Yemen was also a warning to Iran. The Israeli military had “dealt a serious blow to Iran’s terrorist branch in Yemen today,” he said. Katz called on the international community to “maximize” sanctions against Iran.
In Hodeidah, after the air strikes, loud explosions were heard, a massive fire broke out, and a huge cloud of smoke was visible over the city. The Houthi-controlled Ministry of Health reported 80 injured. Most of them had suffered “severe burns.” The ministry did not initially provide any information on possible fatalities.
Israel will “pay the price” for its attacks in Yemen, said Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi political bureau. Senior Houthi official Mohammed Abdulsalam condemned “brutal aggression by Israel.” According to him, the attack targeted “fuel depots and a power plant” in Hodeidah “to put pressure on Yemen” to abandon its support for the Palestinians.
The US said on Saturday that it had not been involved in the Israeli air strikes in Yemen. “We neither coordinated nor supported the attacks with Israel,” said a spokesman for the US National Security Council.
