Houthis Attack Israel After IDF Strikes Yemen Port
Yemen's Houthis attacked Israel with drones, calling it retaliation for an Israeli strike on Hodeida port. The IDF said it intercepted a missile and that its own strike hit Houthi military assets, destroying a rebuilt dock.
By Kamaran Aziz
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched a drone attack targeting several areas in Israel on Tuesday, an action they said was direct retaliation for a "significant" Israeli strike a day earlier that destroyed recently rebuilt infrastructure at the key Yemeni port of Hodeida.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed it intercepted a projectile from Yemen and that sirens had sounded in several areas.
In a statement, Yahya Saree, spokesperson for the Yemeni Houthis, confirmed they had "attacked several areas in Israel with five drones." Saree listed the intended targets as "Ben Gurion Airport, the port of Eilat, Ramon Airport, and other targets in the areas of Jaffa and Ashdod." He explicitly linked the operation to Israeli actions, stating, "The attack comes in response to Israel's attacks yesterday, Monday, on the port of Hodeida and several other locations in that area."
The IDF first acknowledged the threat in an initial report on Telegram. "The IDF has identified the launch of a missile from Yemen toward Israeli territory, aerial defense systems are operating to intercept the threat," the message read, requesting the public to "follow the Home Front Command’s defensive guidelines."
In a follow-up, the IDF confirmed a successful interception. "Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted by the IAF," the military stated, adding that "sirens were sounded in accordance with protocol."
The Houthi retaliatory strike followed an IDF operation on Monday targeting the Hodeida port. The Israeli military announced on the social media platform X that it had conducted a "significant strike."
"STRUCK: Military targets belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime at the Hodeida port," the IDF post stated, listing the targets as "Engineering vehicles, Fuel containers, Naval vessels, and Iranian smuggled weapons." In a separate statement, the Israeli army affirmed it had "struck a number of targets in Hodeida," including "military infrastructure and naval vessels used for military purposes."
The IDF concluded its announcement with a declaration of policy: "The IDF will continue to act decisively against threats—anytime, anywhere."
A security official with the Houthi group, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, corroborated the Israeli strike on the port city. The official stated that "the bombing destroyed the port's dock, which had been rebuilt following previous strikes," indicating the strategic site had only recently been repaired from prior damage.
