Israel strikes Yemen’s Hodeidah; Houthis vow retaliation

At least 80 people were wounded in Israeli strikes that hit the Houthi-held Yemeni port city of Hodeida on Saturday, the health ministry run by the Iran-backed militia said.

The strikes, which triggered a massive blaze in the port area, left “80 wounded, most of them with severe burns,” the ministry said in a statement carried by Houthi media. It did not report any deaths.

Israel’s military said Israeli fighter jets had struck Houthi military targets in the area of Hodeidah port in Yemen in response to hundreds of attacks carried out against Israel in recent months.

A US official told Al Arabiya English that this was an Israeli operation and there were no American refueling efforts in today’s Israeli strikes in Yemen.

A White House National Security Council official said, “We fully recognize and acknowledge Israel’s right to self-defense. The United States was not involved in today’s strikes in Yemen, and we did not coordinate or assist Israel with the strikes.”

Meanwhile, an Israeli military official said that Israel updated its allies prior to carrying out the strike against Houthi military targets in Yemen.

The official, who declined to be identified by name, gave no further specifics or details.

Some of the targets were “dual-use,” including energy infrastructure, the official said.

The Supreme Political Council of Yemen’s Houthi movement said there would be an “effective response” to the Israeli airstrikes.

Israeli strikes will be met with “escalation,” an official of the Iran-backed movement said, warning Israel will “pay the price.”

“The Zionist entity will pay the price for targeting civilian facilities, and we will meet escalation with escalation,” Houthi politburo member Mohammed al-Bukhaiti said in a post on social media.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel struck the Houthis in Yemen in order to send a message after they harmed an Israeli citizen.

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

The strikes came a day after a Houthi drone attack penetrated Israel’s vaunted air defenses and killed a civilian in a Tel Aviv apartment building, drawing Israeli threats of retaliation.

Al-Masirah TV said initially that the strikes were carried out by US and British forces but later deleted the reference to US and British forces.