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Israeli warplanes struck the Houthi-held Yemeni port of Hodeidah on Saturday, both sides said, a day after a drone strike by Iran-backed rebels killed a civilian in Tel Aviv.
The attack, which caused huge fires and billowing black smoke, was the first time Israel has claimed sovereignty over the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula, some 1,800 kilometers away, analysts said.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said: “There will be a price to be paid for the blood of Israeli citizens,” and said “if the Houthis dare to attack us,” we will take more action.
Galant said the attack on Hodeidah was also a warning to other Iranian-backed armed groups in the Middle East that have claimed attacks on Israel during the Gaza war.
“The fire in Hodeidah right now can be seen across the Middle East, and its impact is obvious,” he said.
Hours after Friday’s attack in Tel Aviv, Galant vowed Israel would retaliate against the Houthis, who control large swathes of Yemen, including much of the Red Sea coast.
The Israeli military said that “fighter jets attacked military targets of the Houthi terrorist regime in the area of the port of Hodeidah in Yemen in retaliation for the hundreds of attacks suffered by the State of Israel in recent months.”
The Houthis have previously claimed attacks on Israeli cities including Ashdod, Haifa and Eilat, but Friday’s assault on Tel Aviv appeared to be the first to penetrate Israel’s vaunted air defenses.
‘Brutal invasion’
Mohammed Abdulsalam, a senior Houthi official, issued a statement on social media condemning “Israel’s brutal aggression against Yemen.”
He said the strikes were targeting “fuel storage facilities and power plants” in Hodeidah to “force Yemen to stop supporting” the Palestinians in the Gaza war.
The Houthi-controlled Ministry of Health said the airstrikes in Hodeidah caused deaths and injuries, but did not disclose the specific losses.
The Houthi-controlled Al-Masirah TV station said in a statement that several people suffered “severe burns.”
Al Masirah TV, which AFP could not independently verify, showed a fire on the seafront and a column of black smoke rising into the sky.
The channel also showed footage of the injured being treated in hospitals, many of them wrapped in bandages and lying on stretchers in crowded hospital rooms.
One man who spoke to the broadcaster said many of the injured were port employees.
An AFP reporter in Hodeidah said he heard several loud explosions and saw smoke billowing over the port.
“The city is dark, people are living on the streets, gas stations are closed and there are long queues outside,” said a Hodeidah resident who asked not to be named for security reasons.
Maritime security firm Ambrey said it spotted four commercial vessels in the port and eight more in the anchorage when the strike took place.
“No reports of damage to commercial vessels have been received so far,” the statement said.
Concerns over Yemen aid lifeline
The United States, which has carried out several rounds of joint air strikes with Britain to try to stop Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, said it was not involved in Saturday’s attack.
“The United States was not involved in today’s attack in Yemen, nor did we coordinate or assist Israel in conducting the attack,” a National Security Council spokesman said.
“We have been in regular and ongoing contact with the Israelis since the attack in Tel Aviv on Friday morning that killed an Israeli civilian. We fully recognize and endorse Israel’s right to self-defense.”
Following the Tel Aviv drone strike, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on all parties to exercise “maximum restraint” to avoid “further escalation in the region.”
But Houthi politburo member Mohammed Buhaiti quickly threatened retaliation for the Hodeidah attack.
He posted on social media: “The Zionist entity will pay the price for its actions against civilian facilities, and we will fight violence with violence.”
The Houthi Supreme Political Council vowed that “the aggression will not stop without an effective response.”
The port of Hodeidah, a key entry point for imports and international aid into rebel-held areas of Yemen, has remained largely unscathed during the decade-long war between the rebels and the internationally recognised government backed by neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
“With much of the trade passing through the port, traders are now concerned that this will exacerbate the already dire food security and humanitarian situation in northern Yemen,” said Mohammed Al Barsha, senior Middle East analyst at the U.S.-based Navanti Group.
He said an Israeli strike “would likely be seen by many Yemenis as an attack on their homeland, which could boost Houthi recruitment and funding”.
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