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Israel's air force carried out strikes on Yemen early on Thursday after intercepting at least one missile that it said was launched by the Houthi rebels towards central Israel, making the country the last major active war front against Israel outside the Palestinian territories.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels, along with the Lebanese group Hezbollah and militias in Iraq also aligned with Tehran, began drone, rocket and missiles attacks on Israel after it launched a devastating military offensive on Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that “the Houthis are learning and will learn the hard way, that whoever attacks Israel pays a very heavy price for it”. “After Hamas, Hezbollah and the Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis are almost the last remaining arm of Iran's evil axis,” he added.
The Israeli army began its war in Gaza, which has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, in response to attacks on southern Israel by militants that killed about 1,200 on October 7 last year. But Israel and Hezbollah signed a ceasefire last month, largely ending the fighting in Lebanon and stopping rocket fire from the Lebanese group.
The Israeli air strikes on Yemen hit two power stations in the south and north of the rebel-held capital, Sanaa. Also hit were the port in Hodeidah city, Salif port and the Ras Isa oil terminal, the Houthi-run Al Masirah TV channel said. Nine people were killed in the attacks, the outlet reported – seven in Salif and two in Ras Isa, both of which are in Hodeidah province.
A resident of Hodeidah told The National that power supply to the entire city was cut off after the strikes. “At the time of the morning prayer [Fajr], I heard the sound of a strike from afar, and the electricity went out at the same time,” said Laila, who lives near Hodeidah port and who asked that her full name be withheld.
“After a while, I started hearing the sound of ambulances. I thought they were ambulances, but I saw from the window that they were fire engines, but there was no smoke or fires like the first time,” she said, referring to a previous Israeli attack on the port.
“I was afraid and remained on alert because our house is close to the port. I woke up my husband and told him that we should remain prepared if there was a strike on the port. I did not know how to contact anyone, since it was dawn, but I messaged a group and asked about the electricity, and they answered me shortly after that the electricity had been cut off in the entire city.”
The Israeli military said earlier that a missile launched from Yemen had been intercepted over central Israel. It later added that “damage to a school in Ramat Efal [in central Israel] was identified”.
No casualties were reported, but dramatic footage of the scene quickly led to rumours that more missiles had been launched. The military said it was looking into reports of more missiles being fired than originally thought.
Haim Bibas, the Mayor of Modiin, said that shrapnel apparently from Israeli missile interceptors fired to hit the Houthi projectiles, fell in two places in the central city. He added that investigations were continuing to find out why rocket warning sirens were not sounded in the area.
Soon after the strikes, Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the air force hit targets to “degrade the Houthi terrorist regime, preventing it from exploiting the targets for military and terrorist purposes, including the smuggling of Iranian weapons to the region”. The military said the operation was not launched in response to the Houthi attack, and that it had been planned weeks in advance, with planes already in the air when the missiles were launched towards Israel. Fourteen fighter jets were used, along with refuelling and surveillance planes.
Israel previously struck Hodeidah and its oil infrastructure in September and July in response to Houthi attacks. Its recent Yemen operations are some of the furthest and most complex in the history of the air force.
Hamas called the latest Israeli strikes on Yemen a “dangerous escalation” while calling for more attacks on Israel. “We praise their steadfast support for Gaza and call on them to escalate their attacks until the occupation submits and ends its genocidal war,” the group's armed wing, Al Qassam Brigades, said in a separate statement.
Over the past year, Houthis have attacked ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden that they claimed were linked to Israel and its allies. More than 90 merchant vessels have come under attack from missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started. The Houthis have seized one vessel, sank two and also killed four sailors despite multiple air strikes by the US and an international coalition's efforts to help provide protection to commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
Houthi official Mohammed Al Bukhaiti said the group would continue their attacks despite the Israeli air strikes on Thursday. “Our military operations in support of Gaza will continue and we will meet escalation with escalation until the genocide crimes in Gaza stop and food, medicine and fuel are allowed to enter [for] its residents,” Mr Al Bukhaiti said on X.
“The US-Israeli bombing of civilian facilities in Yemen reveals the truth about the West's hypocrisy and refutes all its humanitarian claims,” he said.
