The Israeli military said on Saturday that its fighter jets 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.

Al-Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by Yemen's Houthi movement, reported that the strikes were directed against oil facilities in the port and caused fatalities.

Hodeidah residents told Reuters by phone that explosions were heard throughout the city during an intensive bombardment.

On Friday, a long-range Iranian-made drone hit the centre of Tel Aviv in an attack claimed by the Houthi militia and which killed one man and wounded others, the Israeli military and emergency services said.

"IDF fighter jets struck military targets of the Houthi terrorist regime in the area of the (Hodeidah) port in Yemen in response to the hundreds of attacks carried out against the state of Israel in recent months," Israel's military said.

A handout picture obtained from Yemen's Huthi Ansarullah Media Center shows a huge column of fire erupting following reported strikes in the Yemeni rebel-held port city of Hodeidah on July 20, 2024. A series of strikes targeted Hodeida on July 20, said an AFP correspondent and Huthi-run media, which reported a fuel depot in the port had been hit.

The Iranian-backed Houthis have stepped up attacks against Israel and Western targets, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.

They began attacking Western ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden after Israel invaded the Gaza Strip following last year's attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel.

"A brutal Israeli aggression targeted civilian buildings, oil facilities and power station in Hodeidah aiming at pressuring Yemen to stop supporting Gaza... but the attack will only increase our determination, steadfastness, continuity," Mohammed Abdulsalam, the chief negotiator for Houthi movement, said in a statement on X.

Hamas stormed Israeli towns on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, nearly 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, according to health authorities in the enclave.

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Flames from Israeli strike on Yemen port ‘seen across Middle East’

Flames from Israeli strike on Yemen port 'seen across Middle East'
Flames from Israeli strike on Yemen port 'seen across Middle East'

Israeli jets struck an oil depot at al-Hudaydah Port in Yemen on Saturday sparking a large fire that officials said could be seen across the Middle East.

The strike on Saturday afternoon came after Houthi rebels launched a drone attack at Israel killing one civilian and wounding eight others.

Footage showed the port of Hudaydah in flames as well as long lines at gas stations in Yemen’s capital of Sana’a.

A Houthi spokesman confirmed that an oil storage facility and electrical installations were hit. Although he admitted there were casualties he did not confirm how many.

Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defence minister, said the fire “is seen across the Middle East and the significance is clear”.

“We will do this in any place where it may be required. The blood of Israeli citizens has a price,” he said.

“This has been made clear in Lebanon, in Gaza, in Yemen, and in other places – if they dare to attack us, the result will be identical.”

Flames from an Israeli strike on Yemen's al-Hudayah port
Israeli forces fired on the port in retaliation of Houthi strikes that killed one Israeli civilian and injured eight others

At least 13 people were killed in three Israeli air strikes that hit refugee camps in central Gaza overnight on Saturday, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Earlier, a medical team delivered a live baby from a Palestinian woman killed in an air strike that hit her home in Nuseirat on Thursday.

It comes as international mediators try to push Israel and Hamas toward a phased ceasefire and hostage release deal at talks in Cairo.

The Houthis, who have controlled Hodeida since the Yemeni civil war began in 2015, threatened to respond to the Israeli air strikes.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi’s politburo, said: “The Zionist entity will pay the price for targeting civilian facilities, and we will meet escalation with escalation.”

Mr Gallant said that the Houthis had attacked Israel “over 200 times” since October, launching drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.

Smoke and flames rise from a site in Hudaydah, Yemen
Youv Gallant said the significance of the flames were clear - AP

An Israeli defence official told The Telegraph that it was an “Israeli strike only”, dismissing earlier reports about the UK and US joining the attack. Israel did, however, inform the US about the strike in Yemen ahead of time, the official added.

“The reason Israel could strike within 24 hours was that we have been preparing for this for months,” the official said.

An IDF official said the port serves as a “main supply route for weapons from Iran to Yemen”, and that air strikes targeted “dual-use infrastructure used for terror activity of the Houthis that have carried out hundreds of terror attacks”.

The Houthis began attacking shipping in the Red Sea in October, in what they said was a response to Israel’s attack on Gaza following the Oct 7 terror attacks.

They have vowed to continue their campaign until the war in Gaza is over.

Israel previously said it had shot down a suspected Houthi drone approaching the port of Eilat.

British and American jets have conducted several strikes against Houthi targets in response to the attacks on shipping. This is the first time Israel has struck directly.

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