The Israeli army struck Houthi targets in Yemen on Thursday morning, just hours after the Iran-backed group launched an attack on Israel.
The Israeli airstrikes, including on ports and energy infrastructure in the capital Sanaa, were in retaliation for Houthi missile and drone attacks on Israel last year, most of which were intercepted, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement. a statement.
Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV said Israeli strikes hit the Heyzaz and Dhahban power plants near the capital, the port of Hodeidah and the Ras Isa oil facility, where deaths were reported.
“Israel’s long hand will also reach you,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a warning to Houthi leaders after the attacks. “Whoever raises his hand against the State of Israel — his hand will be cut off, whoever harms us — will be harmed sevenfold,” he added.
Tensions between Israel and the Houthis have been rising for months as Israel wages its war against Hamas in Gaza.
Earlier on Thursday, sirens were heard in central Israel after the IDF said.
The Houthis have attacked Israel, its allies and Red Sea shipping lanes in rejection of the Israeli military campaign in Gaza that has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians.
The group, which controls Yemen’s most populous regions, says it will not stop attacking Israel and its allies until a
In July, the Houthis claimed responsibility for a deadly drone attack on Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial hub — the group’s first such attack on the city.
Israel responded the next day with heavy airstrikes on a Yemeni port, the first Israeli attack of its kind in Yemen, according to Israeli officials.
In September, the Houthis fired a missile deep into Israel, and earlier this month they claimed to have fired a drone that hit a building in central Israel. No injuries were reported in either attack.
The United States, Israel’s main ally, also attacked Houthi targets in Yemen several times last year, including consecutive nights of attacks in November.
Understand the conflicts involving Israel
At the end of November, a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was approved. This comes after months of bombings by the Israeli Army in Lebanon.
The offensive caused destruction and forced more than a million people to leave their homes to escape the war. Furthermore, it left dozens of people dead in Lebanese territory.
Like Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad are radical groups financed by Iran, and therefore enemies of Israel.
The expectation is that the agreement will serve as the basis for a more lasting cessation of hostilities. At the same time, the war continues in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli military is fighting Hamas and searching for hostages who were kidnapped more than a year ago during the radical group’s attack on Israeli territory on October 7, 2023.
At the time, more than 1,200 people were killed and 250 kidnapped. Since then, more than 43,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza during Israel’s offensive, which also destroyed virtually every building in the Palestinian territory.
On a third front of conflict, Israel and Iran exchanged attacks, which despite raising tension, did not evolve into an all-out war.
In addition, the Israeli Army has been carrying out bombings on Iranian-allied militia targets in Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
