Israeli Jets Bomb Sites in Yemen Linked to Iran-Backed Houthis

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******** Jets ***** Sites in Yemen Linked to Iran-Backed Houthis

******** fighter jets bombed a port in Yemen controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi militia on Saturday in retaliation for the group’s deadly drone ******* in Tel Aviv a day earlier. It was the first time ******* has publicly struck the group following months of escalating Houthi attacks.

The airstrikes targeted a power station as well as gas and oil depots in the area of the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, according to a Houthi spokesman and two regional officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

******* said it had struck sites used for military purposes, although Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the ******** military spokesman, said that ******* had attacked some “dual use” targets that have both civilian and military functions.

Admiral Hagari said the operation was “one of the farthest and longest ever conducted by the ******** air force.” He called the port a major supply stop for Iran to funnel weapons to its Houthi allies in Yemen, who have fired over 200 missiles and drones at ******* over the past several months.

But the Hodeidah port is also a crucial point for all goods, including desperately needed food and oil, to enter northwestern Yemen, much of which is controlled by the Houthis; at least two-thirds of the impoverished country’s population lives under the group’s rule.

The Ministry of Health in Houthi-controlled Sana, Yemen’s capital, said at least 80 people were wounded in the *******, most of them with severe burns, according to The Associated Press.

Yahya Sarea, the Houthi spokesman, said that the strike on the port would not deter the militia from engaging in additional attacks against *******. The group says it fires munitions at ******* as an expression of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, where the war between ******* and ****** is now in its 10th month.

“We will not stop our operations in support of our brothers in Gaza, whatever the consequences,” Mr. Sarea said in a televised statement. “With ****’s help, we are preparing for a long war with this ****** until the aggression stops.”

On Friday, the Houthis claimed responsibility for launching a long-range drone that struck Tel Aviv, ******** one ******** and wounding several others. In addition to the hundreds of missiles and drones they have fired at *******, the Houthis have menaced ships passing through the Red Sea to try to blockade the ******** port of Eilat.

******* is already fighting a war against ****** on its southern front in Gaza and trading ***** incessantly with Hezbollah in Lebanon to the north — two groups also backed by Iran. Its response on Saturday appeared calibrated not to incite a full-blown war on a third front.

The ******** ******* in Yemen was nonetheless a striking moment in a war that has already seen ******* exchange ***** with Iran and its allies across the Middle East. But the ******** military said Saturday that the ******** public was advised to continue daily activities, indicating it did not expect an imminent escalation.

Since November, Houthi fighters have launched attacks on Red Sea shipping, forcing many commercial vessels to take a costly detour around southern *******. In response, the ******* States, Britain and their allies have struck hundreds of Houthi targets in Yemen. In January, the State Department

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the Houthis as a ********** group.

But the ******* States was not involved in the strikes on Saturday, nor did it coordinate or assist ******* with the strikes, the National Security Council said.

“We fully recognize and acknowledge *******’s right to self-defense,” it added in a statement.

An ******** military official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said ******* had notified its allies in advance of the *******.

The strike could aggravate an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Yemen, which has been devastated by years of civil war and where much of the public depends on aid from abroad to stave off starvation.

Mohammed Albasha, a senior Middle East expert at Navanti Group, a research organization, said that the damage from the airstrikes would likely lead to severe fuel shortages throughout northern Yemen, “impacting essential services such as diesel generators for hospitals.”

“The damage to the Hodeidah power station, combined with the intense summer heat, will further exacerbate the suffering of the local population,” Mr. Albasha added.

The Houthi drone ******* in Tel Aviv on Friday — which struck close to an ********* diplomatic compound — was a rare breach of *******’s air defenses. Most missiles and drones fired by the Houthis at ******* have been shot down by *******, the ******* States and its allies.

The ******** military said its surveillance apparently had managed to pick up the drone, but officers had ******* to identify it as a threat and to ****** it down.

After the Houthis began ******* missiles and drones at *******, the ******** military realized it lacked an immediate list of targets in Yemen, said a senior ******** defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. *******’s military intelligence directorate established a team to begin building out a bank of sites to strike should the moment arrive, the official said.

But until Saturday, ******* had not launched a full-on ******* against the Houthis in Yemen, which is more than 1,000 miles away. The drone strike in Tel Aviv appeared to tip the scales, and by Saturday afternoon, ******** fighter jets were spotted flying in broad daylight toward Yemen.

Around 6 p.m. local time, the ******** ******* on the port commenced. The strike ignited an enormous ***** across the port area, possibly from burning fuel.

Muneer Ahmed, a resident of Hodeidah, said he had heard about 12 blasts in two barrages and could see smoke rising, even though he was about two miles from the ******** site.

“The strikes were so intense that they reminded us of the early days of war,” said Mr. Ahmed, referring to the Saudi coalition’s ******** of the city that began in 2015.

After the attacks, residents in Hodeidah rushed to gas stations, fearing a shortage, and long lines were forming around the city, Mr. Ahmed said.

*******’s leaders were quick to hail the ******* as a step toward restoring deterrence. Yoav Gallant, the ******** defense minister, said that the ***** burning in Hodeidah was “seen across the Middle East, and the significance is clear.”

“The first time that they harmed an ******** citizen, we struck them — and we will do this wherever it may be required,” said Mr. Gallant.

******* had little choice but to retaliate, but the ******* in Yemen was unlikely to put an end to the fighting, said Danny Citrinowicz, a former ******** intelligence officer and a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

The only way to prevent the Houthis from continuing to ***** at ******* would be a cease-***** deal to end the war in Gaza, he said. Hezbollah, the politically powerful Lebanese group, has also said it will keep fighting as long as *******’s campaign against ****** in Gaza continues.

Talks between ******* and ****** on a comprehensive truce have stalled, despite renewed optimism earlier this month.

“We can ******* Iran’s axis as much as we want, but without such a cease-*****, we cannot end this war,” said Mr. Citrinowicz. “Even this ******* will not cut the Gordian knot with which the Houthis have bound themselves to ******.”

Vivian Nereim contributed reporting from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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