Israel’s military says it has launched a series of air raids on Houthi targets in Yemen, further heightening fears of a wider regional conflict in the wake of intensified Israeli attacks on Gaza and Lebanon.
In a statement on Sunday, the military said dozens of aircraft, including fighter jets, attacked power plants and sea port facilities at the Ras Isa and Hodeidah ports. The attack killed at least four people – one port worker and three electric engineers – the Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV reported citing health officials.
The air raids also caused power outages in most parts of Hodeidah, according to residents.
The attack came a day after the Houthis said they fired a ballistic missile at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv in Israel.
The Iran-aligned group has repeatedly launched drones and missiles at Israel and on Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait since November of last year, in what it describes as a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians under Israeli attacks in Gaza.
“Over the past year, the Houthis have been operating under the direction and funding of Iran, and in cooperation with Iraqi militias in order to attack the State of Israel, undermine regional stability, and disrupt global freedom of navigation,” the Israeli military statement added.
The Houthis’ Supreme Political Council said on Sunday that the Israeli strikes will not stop its “support for the Palestinian people”.
“The Israeli aggression will only increase the Yemeni people’s determination to continue their stance,” the executive body said in a statement.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry also condemned Sunday’s attack that sent large plumes of smoke into the sky. Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani called the air raids “inhumane” and accused the United States of fully supporting Israel’s “crimes”.
Separately, Hamas denounced the attack “in the strongest terms” and expressed “full solidarity” with the Yemeni people and the Houthi movement, calling the Israeli assault “a dangerous escalation”.
Hussain al-Bukhaiti, a journalist and political analyst based in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, told Al Jazeera that firefighters were trying to extinguish fires that broke out after the air raids.
Israel previously hit the Hodeidah port in July after a Houthi drone strike penetrated Israel’s air defences and killed a civilian in Tel Aviv.
Earlier this month, the Houthis, who control most of northern Yemen, reached central Israel with what they described as a hypersonic missile. The attack caused fires, triggering air raid sirens and sending residents running for shelter in the area around Ben Gurion airport.
Moreover, the air raids on Sunday came as Israel continues to launch deadly attacks across Lebanon, forcing the displacement of up to one million people.
On Saturday, the Houthis mourned the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli attack on a densely populated civilian area of southern Beirut on Friday.
The group also demanded that Israel halt its assault on Lebanon.
