Israel Strikes Yemeni Port City In Response To Houthi Drone Hit
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the port was used as a gateway for Iranian weapons supplies to the Houthis.
(Bloomberg) -- Israel struck targets around the Houthi-held Red Sea port of Hodeidah in Yemen, retaliating for a drone attack on Tel Aviv by the Iran-backed militants that killed a man and exposed a vulnerability in Israeli air defenses.
Saturday’s airstrikes targeted a power station and fuel storage sites, killing three people and wounding 87 others, the Yemen-based group said. A Houthi-run television channel showed flames and smoke raging in the installations it said were hit. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the port was used as a gateway for Iranian weapons supplies to the Houthis.
“This operation struck targets 1,800 kilometers from our borders,” Netanyahu said in a video statement late Saturday. “It clarifies to our enemies that there is no place where the long arm of the State of Israel won’t reach.”
Mohammed Abdulsalam, a Houthi spokesman, said in a statement on X that the targets were civilian installations, and that the group would continue its attackings on Israel and commercial ship traffic in the Red Sea.
Israel’s strike was among the most complex and longest-distance missions in its air force’s history, said Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari. Israel carried out the strikes alone and gave its allies advance warning, another military official said.
The Houthi spokesperson vowed an “inevitable” and “huge” retaliation to Israel’s assault and said that the group has fired ballistic missiles targeting Eilat in Israel’s south. The IDF said Sunday morning that it intercepted a surface-to-surface missile approaching from the Red Sea.
Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday that the kingdom had “no relation or involvement” in targeting Hodeidah, adding that the country will not allow any entity to violate its airspace.
President Joe Biden’s administration has been in regular contact with Israeli officials since the Friday morning strike on Tel Aviv, and fully recognizes Israel’s right to self-defense, said a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council.
The IDF said the projectile that struck Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial capital, was fired from Yemen in what would be the first deadly attack on the Jewish state by the Houthis. It was an Iranian-built Samad 3 drone repurposed to fly longer distances, according to the military.
One man was killed and eight people injured in the Friday’s strike. Media showed footage of a low-flying drone coming into Tel Aviv from the west, over the Mediterranean Sea.
“The first time that the Houthis harmed an Israeli citizen, we struck them,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement. “And we will do this in any place where it may be required.”
Netanyahu heads to Washington on Monday, his first trip outside Israel since its war against Hamas began in October. He’ll meet with Biden on Tuesday, his office said, and a day later is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress.
Air Defenses
The Houthis said they used a new type of drone on Friday that’s difficult for radar to detect, and vowed to target the city and other parts of Israel again, escalating a campaign that has focused for months on attacking Red Sea shipping closer to their home base in Yemen.
Israel’s military said the drone was detected by its defense systems and it’s investigating why it wasn’t shot down.
Dozens of drones, primarily those sent by Hezbollah in Lebanon, have evaded air defenses and caused casualties in Israel. The army is testing a laser-based system designed for small projectiles, though it won’t be ready before 2025.
The Houthis started targeting Israel with drones and missiles shortly after the war between Israeli forces and Hamas in Gaza begin in October. None of those attacks are believed to have caused significant damage in Israel until now, with most projectiles being intercepted or failing to reach the country.
Houthi militants say they’re acting in solidarity with Palestinians and will continue the attacks until there’s a cease-fire in Gaza.
--With assistance from Marissa Newman and Omar Tamo.
(Updates with timing of Biden-Netanyahu meeting in 12th paragraph.)
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