The Israeli military said it carried out strikes on the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah in Yemen in response to attacks by the Houthi group.
Saturday’s airstrikes came a day after the Houthis claimed responsibility for a drone attack that killed one person in Tel Aviv and wounded 10 others.
Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV said the Israeli attack targeted oil storage facilities and a power plant in Hodeidah, sparking a fire. The TV station cited health officials as saying the airstrikes caused casualties, including deaths, without specifying a number.
The Health Ministry, which operates in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, said more than 80 people suffered burns as a result of the Israeli strikes.
But the Israeli military said it had struck “military targets” in Yemen.
The Israeli airstrikes were Israel’s first known direct attack on the Houthis since the start of the Gaza war, and come amid growing fears of an escalation of violence in the Middle East.
The Houthis’ Supreme Political Council vowed to respond to Saturday’s attack. “This aggression will not pass without an effective response against the enemy,” it said in a statement.
Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdelsalam said that the “brutal Israeli aggression against Yemen” aims to “pressure Yemen to stop supporting Gaza, which is a dream that will not come true.”
Gen. Yahya Saree, the Houthis’ military spokesman, added later Saturday that the group would not hesitate to attack “vital targets” in Israel.
Hamas was quick to condemn the Israeli attack. “The occupation state will undoubtedly be burned by the fire lit today in Hodeidah, and the increase in Zionist crimes will change the whole equation,” Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the Palestinian group’s political bureau, said in a statement.
Hezbollah also expressed support for the Houthis and the Yemeni people following the attack.
“We believe that this stupid step by the Zionist enemy is a sign of a new dangerous phase in the confrontation across the entire region,” the Lebanese group said in a statement.
But Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant hailed the attack as a warning to Israel’s adversaries.
“The fire raging in Hodeidah is visible throughout the Middle East and its significance is clear,” Gallant said. “The Houthis have attacked us more than 200 times. The first time they injured an Israeli citizen, we struck them. And we will do the same wherever necessary.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the port struck by the fighter jets was being used as an entry point by the Houthis to receive Iranian weapons.
Netanyahu added that the strike, about 1,800 km from Israel’s borders, reminded enemies that there is nowhere Israel cannot reach.
Yousef Mawry, a Yemeni journalist and political analyst, told Tel Aviv Tribune that he saw Sanaa residents rushing to get fuel after the attack for fear of shortages, noting that the Israeli strikes targeted “public facilities”.
He said the attack would place a burden on civilians, leaving them without “access to basic needs,” including propane gas and fuel.
The Iran-allied Houthis, who present themselves as Yemen’s official armed forces, are targeting Red Sea shipping lanes in a campaign they say is aimed at pressuring Israel to end its war on Gaza, which has killed more than 38,900 Palestinians.
The Yemeni group also launched ballistic missiles and drones at Israel, most of which were intercepted.
But early Friday, a Houthi drone loaded with explosives evaded Israeli air defenses and struck a building in Tel Aviv, in what was seen as a major security breach in Israel.
Israeli officials had promised to respond. In a message to the Houthis on Friday, Gallant promised that Israel would “settle scores” with anyone who threatened its security.
The United States and the United Kingdom have been carrying out airstrikes in Yemen for months in response to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. But the military campaign has failed to halt the attacks by the Yemeni group.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hamdah Salhut said the latest developments are likely to put a strain on the Israeli military, which is “already stretched thin” amid fears of an all-out regional war.
Salhut noted that Israeli reservists are operating in the northern and southern regions of the country as Israel battles Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“If the air force is to be deployed to other parts of the Middle East, such as Yemen, it is difficult to say exactly how it will do that while it is still trying to recruit more people for the army,” she said. “The pressure is enormous for the Israelis as another front opened this morning.”
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