What sparked Israeli airstrikes in Yemen and how have the Houthis responded? (2024)

Israel has bombed a key port in Houthi-controlled Yemen in retaliation for a fatal drone strike on Tel Aviv on Friday.

Israel Defence Forces fighter jets struck Houthi targets near the Hodeidah port on Saturday, killing at least three people and wounding 87.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said his country attacked the port to send a message to the Iran-backed Houthis following the political and military group’s drone strike on Tel Aviv, which killed a man and wounded four others.

This is the first time Israel has publically acknowledged striking Yemen amid escalating tensions with the Houthis.

The latest strike on Yemen has now underlined fears that the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza may now spiral into a wider regional war.

Israel on Saturday also confirmed it had struck a Hezbollah weapons storage facility overnight in southern Lebanon, which is said contained rockets and additional weaponry.

Hezbollah “in response” said it launched “dozens of Katyusha rockets” on the country, as strikes continue to be exchanged on Israel’s northern border.

What did Israel strike?

Israel carried out a wave of airstrikes near the Houthi-controlled Red Sea port of Hodeidah in Yemen, targeting oil facilities and a power station.

More than 80 people were injured and three people killed in what Houthi official Mohammed Abdulsalam said was “brutal Israeli aggression against Yemen”.

Israel’s military spokesperson said the port was a Houthi target.

The Houthi-run government in response said the targets were oil storage facilities and a powerplant.

The IDF said the strike was one of the furthest it has ever conducted, stretching 1,600km (994 miles) away to a state with which it does not share a border. It was conducted by Israeli F-15 fighter jets, which all returned safely.

Footage of the attack showed enormous fires raging for hours on Saturday night as those wounded reported severe burns.

The military said in a statement that it was “capable of operating anywhere required” and would continue to “strike any force that endangers Israelis”.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking after the strikes, said his country would defend itself “by all means”.

“Anyone who harms us will pay a very heavy price for their aggression,” he said in a televised address.

Why did Israel hit a port?

Israel said the port was an entry point used by the Houthis to take delivery of Iranian weaponry, following the retaliatory strike in response to the attack on Tel Aviv.

“The fire that is currently burning in Hodeidah is seen across the Middle East and the significance is clear,” Mr Gallant said in a statement following the strikes.

“The Houthis attacked us over 200 times. The first time that they harmed an Israeli citizen, we struck them. And we will do this in any place where it may be required.”

Israel said the strike was in response to “nine months of continuous aerial threats” made by the “Houthi terrorist military”.

But Houthi official Mr Abdulsalam said the purpose of Israel’s strikes was to pressurise the Houthis to stop support of Palestinians in Gaza – which the group ruled out.

The Houthis’ Supreme Political Council warned Israel that there would be an “effective response” to the strikes. The council’s spokesperson said it “will not hesitate to strike vital targets of the Israeli enemy.”

The IDF later said on Saturday night that it had shot down a missile fired from Yemen before it reached Israeli airspace.

What has been the Houthi response to the attack?

In the aftermath of the attack, Israel has claimed to have intercepted a ballistic missile fired by the militant group from within Yemen. The missiles, Israel said, was targeting the southern city of Eilat.

Houthi military spokesperson, Brig Gen Yahya Saree, has said that the group also targeted an American ship in the Red Sea with missiles and drones.

Since the start of the conflict, Houthi rebels have targeted a large number of commercial vessels in the Red Sea in order to disrupt global trade.

Saree also said any further “response to the Israeli aggression against our country is inevitably coming and will be huge”.

What is the latest in Gaza?

Amid the strike on Yemen, Gaza’s health ministry said 64 people have been killed over the weekend and a further 105 injured as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues.

At least 13 others were killed on Friday following an Israeli airstrike on a refugee camp in central Gaza, the Hamas-run health service said.

Three children and one woman were reported to be among the dead.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said in a statement following the strike: “Overnight, the IDF struck terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip, including terrorists and terrorist infrastructure sites in the area of Nuseirat.

“The IDF is making significant efforts to mitigate harm to uninvolved civilians and is operating in accordance with international law against the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip that are systematically and cynically operating from within civilian infrastructure.”

The ongoing attacks, sparked by Hamas’s 7 October onslaught on Israel, continue amid the backdrop of mediation and discussions towards a ceasefire deal.

The US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, who has been heavily involved in the discussions, said on Friday that a deal between Hamas and Israel to release its hostages and stop the conflict was “inside the 10-yard line”.

“We know that anything in the last 10 yards are the hardest,” he added, noting that the parties had been locked in discussions for months without agreeing on terms.

More than 38,900 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict since it began, according to Hamas.

The 7 October attack killed 1,200 people and Hamas took around 250 hostage. It is thought that some 120 remain in captivity, and a further third of them are assumed to be dead.