Israeli fighter jets bombed ports and a power plant in Houthi-controlled Yemeni territory on Friday, the Israeli military said, in the latest attempt to force the Iran-backed militant group to stop firing at Israel and commercial ships in the Red Sea.
Israel has stepped up its attacks against the Houthis in recent weeks in response to repeated attacks by the Yemeni militia, which has fired at Israel in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza.
The United States and Britain have also repeatedly struck Yemen in an effort to protect international waterways from Houthi attacks. But it was far from clear whether Israel and its allies would succeed in forcing the Houthis to end their attacks through a bombing campaign.
The Israeli air force bombed the Hezyaz power plant near Sana – the Houthi-controlled capital – not far from where thousands of Yemenis had gathered in a weekly demonstration of solidarity with the Palestinians. The ports of Hudaydah and Ras Isa, Yemen’s main oil export terminal, were also attacked, the Israeli military said in a statement.
Experts have warned that attacking ports such as Hudaydah, a key supply conduit in northern Yemen, could further worsen what is already one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Rocked by civil war for more than a decade, millions of people in Yemen face the threat of malnutrition, according to the United Nations.
The Israeli army said it struck targets at sites used by the Houthis for military purposes. A worker at the Hezyaz power plant was injured, according to al-Masira, the Houthi-affiliated broadcaster. There are no other immediate reports of serious casualties.
“The port of Hudaydah is paralyzed and the port of Ras Isa is on fire,” Israel Katz, Israel’s defense minister, said in a statement. “The message is clear: anyone who harms Israel will be hit tenfold.”
The Houthis are more than 1,600 miles from Israeli territory and have survived numerous attempts to defeat them since they came to power in Yemen’s decades-long civil war. The United States considers the Houthis a terrorist group, and some of its regional allies, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have also targeted them.
Since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 sparked the Gaza war, the Houthis have fired hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel. They have also disrupted global shipping by firing at passing commercial barges in a self-declared attempt to enforce a blockade against Israel.
Over the past two months, the Houthis have stepped up their attacks, sending Israelis across central Israel running for bomb shelters late at night as air raid sirens sound. On Thursday, Houthi militants launched three drones over Israeli territory; the Israeli army said it had intercepted them all.
Israel has bombed Yemen several times in response, sending its fighter planes more than 1,600 miles, but has struggled to decisively subdue the Houthis. The United States and its allies have also struck the Houthis repeatedly over the past year without decisively deterring them from future attacks.
After Friday’s attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “the Houthis are paying, and will continue to pay, a heavy price for their aggression against us.”
On Friday, Katz threatened to kill Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the group’s leader, as well as other commanders.
“No one is immune,” Katz said. “We will hunt you down and destroy the terrorist infrastructure you have built. The long arm of Israel will reach you, wherever you are.”
Johnatan Reisscontributed reporting from Tel Aviv.