Israel launched a retaliatory airstrike on Yemen on Saturday, targeting Houthi military sites in the port city of Hodeida. The strike, which came just days after a Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv, marks the Jewish state’s first direct military action against Yemen.
According to a spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), the strike was in response to “hundreds of attacks against the State of Israel” over recent months. The Houthi movement, backed by Iran, has increased its attacks on Israel and Western targets in recent weeks, reportedly in solidarity with the Palestinian cause.
In the hours leading up to the airstrike, Israeli Prime Defense Minister Yoav Gallant briefed U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on the planned response to Thursday’s drone attack, which wounded several Israelis and left one dead. Military officials from both countries spoke multiple times on Saturday.
Yemen’s Houthi-controlled television network, Al-Masirah, reported that the Israeli jets targeted oil facilities in Hodeida, causing fatalities. The attack follows a series of Houthi assaults on Western vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since Israel’s invasion of Gaza in response to Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7.
An IDF official stressed that Israel does not aim to harm ordinary Yemeni citizens and has no interest in sparking a regional war. However, they insisted that the attack on Tel Aviv had “crossed all red lines” and required a decisive response.
