Israel strikes Houthi targets after missile attack

Israel has said its fighter jets conducted a series of strikes against military targets in Yemen belonging to the Iran-backed Houthi movement in response to missile and drone attacks.

An Israeli military spokesman said the targets included Red Sea ports and energy infrastructure in the capital Sanaa.

Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported that nine people were killed in the port of Salif and the Ras Issa oil terminal, which are both in Hudaydah province.

The strikes came hours after a missile fired from Yemen was partially intercepted over central Israel. Part of the missile still hit a school in Ramat Gan on the edge of Tel Aviv, destroying a building.

The Houthis, who control north-western Yemen, began attacking Israel and international shipping shortly after the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with Palestinians.

Israel’s military says about 400 missiles and drones have since been launched at the country from Yemen, most of which have been intercepted.

In the early hours of Thursday, Israelis in Tel Aviv and the surrounding area were sent rushing to bomb shelters as an incoming missile was shot down by air defences.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said a missile was fired from Yemen towards Israeli territory and that it was partially intercepted.

Shrapnel fell in central Israel, including the missile warhead which directly hit a school in the Ramat Efal neighbourhood of Ramat Gan, it added. No injuries were reported.

Two hours after the attack, the IDF announced that its fighter jets had struck Houthi military targets on Yemen’s west coast and inland.

According to Houthi-run Al Masirah, seven people were killed by an Israeli strike on the Red Sea port of Salif, while two people were killed and one injured at the nearby Ras Issa oil terminal. Another two were reportedly injured at the port of Hudaydah, just to the south.

The TV channel also said that the power stations in Haiz and Dhahban, to the south and north of Sanaa, had been struck.

The director of the General Electricity Corporation, Meshaal al-Rifi, was cited as saying that the local electricity supply had been affected by damage to electricity distribution stations and fuel tanks.

“The Houthis have been carrying out attacks against Israel in violation of international law, and the Houthi regime is a threat to peace and security in the region,” IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said.

“Today, the IDF conducted precise strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen – including ports and energy infrastructure in Sanaa, which the Houthis have been using in ways that effectively contributed to their military actions.”

An Israeli military official said the operation was “planned” and that the 14 jets and other aircraft involved were “already in the air” when the Houthis launched their missile, according to the Financial Times.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “After Hamas, Hezbollah and the Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis are almost the last arm of Iran’s axis of evil. They are finding out, and will find out, the hard way that whoever harms Israel – will pay a very heavy price.”

Defence Minister Israel Katz meanwhile warned Houthi leaders that “Israel’s long hand will reach you too”.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group had launched two “hypersonic” ballistic missiles at two “sensitive military targets” in the Tel Aviv area at the same time as the Israeli strikes, and that the operation had “successfully achieved its objectives”.

“The Israeli aggression will not deter Yemen and the Yemenis from performing their religious and moral duty in responding to its massacres in the Gaza Strip, as well as responding to this brutal aggression by continuing support and striking all hostile targets with appropriate weapons,” he added.

It was the third direct attack by Israel against the Houthis in five months.

In July, the Israeli military struck Hudaydah’s port and oil infrastructure after a Houthi drone attack killed one person in Tel Aviv. It bombed Hudaydah again in September after a Houthi missile targeted Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion international airport.

The US and UK have also carried out strikes on Houthi weapons and other military targets over the past year in response to attacks on global shipping in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

On Monday, US Central Command said it had targeted a “key command-and-control facility” in Sanaa that had been a hub for co-ordinating attacks.

The Houthis have targeted dozens of merchant vessels with missiles, drones and small boat attacks since November 2023. They have sunk two vessels, seized a third and killed four crew members.

They say they are acting in support of the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. They have claimed – often falsely – that they are targeting ships only linked to Israel, the US or the UK.