DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) 鈥� A series of intense Israeli airstrikes shook Yemen's rebel-held capital and a port city early Thursday and killed at least nine people, officials said, shortly after a Houthi missile targeted central Israel.
Thursday鈥檚 strikes risk further escalating conflict with , whose attacks on the Red Sea corridor have drastically impacted global shipping. The rebels have so far avoided the same level of intense military strikes that have targeted the Palestinian Hamas militant group and Lebanon鈥檚 Hezbollah, fellow members of Tehran鈥檚 self-described 鈥淎xis of Resistance.鈥�
The Houthi-controlled satellite channel al-Masirah said that some of the strikes targeted power stations in the capital, as well as the Ras Isa oil terminal on the Red Sea. The channel, citing its correspondent in the port city of Hodeida, said at least seven people had been killed at the nearby port of Salif, while another two had been killed at the Ras Isa oil terminal.
Others suffered wounds at the Hodeida port as well, it said.
An Israeli military statement offered no specifics on the targets hit, nor any damage assessment.
鈥淭he targets struck by the (Israeli military) were used by the Houthi forces for military purposes,鈥� the statement said. 鈥淭he strikes degrade the Houthi terrorist regime, preventing it from exploiting the targets for military and terrorist purposes, including the smuggling of Iranian weapons to the region.鈥�
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, said the strikes hit energy and port infrastructure, which he alleged the rebels 鈥渉ave been using in ways that effectively contributed to their military action.鈥�
鈥淚srael will not hesitate to act in order to defend itself and its citizens from the Houthi attacks,鈥� Hagari said.
Rebel-held Hodeida, some 145 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of Sanaa, has been key for food shipments into Yemen as its decadelong war has gone on. There's also longstanding suspicion that weapons from Iran have been transferred through the port.
The strikes happened just after the Israeli military said its air force intercepted a missile launched from Yemen before it entered the country鈥檚 territory.
鈥淩ocket and missile sirens were sounded following the possibility of falling debris from the interception,鈥� the Israeli military said. Sirens sounded near Tel Aviv and the surrounding areas, and a large explosion was heard overhead at the time. The Houthis did not immediately claim the missile attack, but said an important military statement would be issued in the coming hours, following a pattern of how they claim their assaults.
Israel previously struck Hodeida and its oil infrastructure in July after . In September, Israel struck Hodeida again, killing at least four people after a rebel missile targeted Israel鈥檚 Ben Gurion airport as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was arriving back to the country.
American forces have also launched a series of strikes on the Houthis over nearly a year due to Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea corridor. On Monday, the U.S. military's Central Command said it hit 鈥渁 key command-and-control facility" operated by the Houthis in Sanaa, later identified as the al-Ardi complex once home to the government's Defense Ministry.
But Israel appears to have carried out Thursday's strikes alone. A U.S. military official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the attacks, said America had no part in them. While the U.S. has carried out strikes on the Houthis in the past, it is also balancing the desires of Saudi Arabia to reach a permanent ceasefire in its stalemated war with the rebels.
The Houthis have targeted some 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023 after Hamas' surprise attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage. Israel's grinding offensive in Gaza has killed over 45,000 Palestinians, local health officials say.
The Houthis have and that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by separate U.S.- and European-led coalitions in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have also included Western military vessels.
The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel鈥檚 campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.
The Houthis have battled the Saudi-led coalition in the wider Yemen war that鈥檚 killed more than 150,000 people, including civilians. The conflict also has created one of the world鈥檚 worst humanitarian disasters that's believed to killed tens of thousands more.
But the Houthis are still standing even as Israel's campaign against Hamas and Hezbollah has decimated those militant groups. Meanwhile, Israel and Iran have exchanged direct fire while the government of Syria, an enemy of Israel since its founding in 1948, collapsed in the face of a rebel advance as the region鈥檚 wars have upended Iran鈥檚 network of allied proxy groups.
Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press
