CNN
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Israeli airstrikes targeted Houthi rebels in Yemen a day after the Iran-backed group claimed a deadly attack on the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.
The Israel Defense Forces said its fighter jets struck “military targets of the Houthi terrorist regime” in the area of Yemen’s Hodeidah Port on Saturday. Spokesperson Daniel Haggari said the strikes were in response to both the death of a 50-year-old Israeli in a Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv Friday and the roughly 200 projectiles the rebel group has fired towards Israel since October.
This is the first time Israel has struck Yemen, according to Israeli officials.
The Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said the Israeli strikes targeted oil facilities in the port on Yemen’s west coast, adding that there had been deaths and injuries.
Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam said the strikes had also hit civilian targets and a power station. He slammed what he said was “brutal Israeli aggression” aimed at increasing the “suffering of the people of Yemen” and pressuring it to stop its support of Gaza.
Houthi army spokesperson Yehya Saree vowed to respond to the strike, saying the Houthis would not hesitate to strike Israel’s “vital targets” and warning that Tel Aviv was still not safe.
“We have prepared for a long war with this enemy until the aggression stops and the blockade on the Palestinian people is lifted,” Saree said.
Israeli officials said Hodeidah had been targeted because it was the main supply route of Iranian weapons to Yemen. A spokesperson for the IDF said the targets were dual use infrastructure that were also being used for terrorist activity.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said “the blood of Israeli citizens has a price,” and that if Israelis are attacked, the “result will be identical” to that in Lebanon and Gaza.
“The fire that is currently burning in Hodeidah is seen across the Middle East and the significance is clear,” Gallant said. “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.”
Since the start of Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, the Yemeni rebels have regularly targeted the country with drones and missiles, most of which have been intercepted by Israel’s defenses or those of its allies. However, the drone attack in Tel Aviv Friday – which the Houthis said was performed by a new drone capable of “bypassing the enemy’s interception systems” – killed one person and injured at least 10 others.
The Houthis have also regularly attacked US targets and commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
Both the UK and the US have responded to the attacks on shipping by carrying out strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. However, Israel has not taken part in those responses.
An Israeli defense official told CNN that this was a 100% Israeli strike. The official said Israel had previously let the US and UK take the lead on responding to Houthi attacks but decided to respond itself this time because of the death of the Israeli citizen in Tel Aviv.
According to the official, Gallant informed US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin before the strike was carried out.
The defense official added that Israel was able to strike so quickly because it had been preparing for this scenario for months.
Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz said Israel had “delivered a severe blow to the Iranian-backed terror organization in Yemen today” and warned it would “strike anyone who strikes us.”
He also called on the international community to “maximize sanctions on Iran.”
“Iran supports, trains, and finances the Houthi terror organization as part of its regional network of terror organizations aimed at attacking Israel,” he said.
“Iran is the head of the snake – it must be stopped now,” Katz added.
A White House official said US President Joe Biden had been briefed on “developments” in the Middle East. A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said the US had not coordinated with Israel on the airstrikes, but added that the US fully recognizes “Israel’s right to self-defense.”
In May, at least 16 people were killed and a further 35 wounded by US-UK airstrikes in Hodeidah targeting Houthi rebels.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
