Yemenis taking part in a weekly protest in Sanaa in support of Palestinians heard the strikes [Mohammed Huwais/AFP/Getty]
Israel struck Houthi targets in Yemen on Friday, including a power station and coastal ports, in response to missile and drone launches, and warned it would hunt down the group’s leaders.
Since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023, the Iran-backed group has fired dozens of missiles and drones at Israel in what it says is a show of solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s latest strikes came after the military intercepted two drones believed to have been launched from Yemen the previous day.
“A short while ago…fighter jets struck military targets belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime on the western coast and inland Yemen,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
It said the strikes were carried out in retaliation for Houthi missile and drone launches into Israel.
The statement said the targets included “military infrastructure sites in the Hezyaz power station, which serves as a central source of energy” for the Houthis.
It said it also struck military infrastructure in the ports of Al Hudaydah and Ras Issa.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes in Gaza – in a statement after the strikes, said the Houthis were being punished for their repeated attacks on his country.
“As we promised, the Houthis are paying, and they will continue to pay, a heavy price for their aggression against us,” he said, vowing not to tolerate attacks against Israel.
“The Houthis are a proxy of Iran and they serve the terrorist objectives of the Iranian axis in the Middle East,” he said, adding the group posed a “danger to Israel” and the region.
‘No immunity for anyone’
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel would “hunt down the leaders of the Houthi terror organisation”.
“The Hudaydah port is paralysed, and the Ras Issa port is on fire – there will be no immunity for anyone”, he said in a video statement.
Yemen’s Al-Masirah television station said the power station was struck eight times, wounding one worker and damaging nearby houses.
Yemenis taking part in a weekly protest in Sanaa in support of Palestinians heard the strikes, the channel reported.
Al-Masirah said the port of Al Hudaydah, vital for Yemen’s imports, was struck six times, while the Ras Issa port was struck by “a series of raids”.
Houthis said in a statement that over the past 48 hours, they targeted Jaffa, the name they use to refer to the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv.
Palestinian movement Hamas condemned “in the strongest terms” Israel’s latest strikes on Yemen.
The Iran-backed Yemeni rebels have also targeted ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, prompting retaliatory strikes by the United States and, on occasion, Britain.
Before Friday’s raids, Israel had struck Houthi targets in Yemen several times, including in the capital.
Since the Gaza war began, the Houthis have launched about 40 surface-to-surface missiles toward Israel, most of which were intercepted, the Israeli army says.
The military has also reported the launch of about 320 drones, with more than 100 intercepted by Israeli air defences.
