Israel retaliated Houthi drone attack in Tel Aviv Airstrikes were reported in Yemen on Saturday, hitting oil and diesel storage facilities at the port.
Media managed by Iran-backed Houthis Yemeni television stations reported that airstrikes had taken place in the port city of Hodeidah, including hitting a local power company. Al-Masirah TV said the strikes had caused casualties but did not provide details, The Associated Press reported.
A large fire broke out at the port, causing widespread power outages.
A Yemeni health official told The Associated Press that several people were killed and wounded in the attack but gave no further details.
/AP
The Israeli military said in a statement on Saturday that its warplanes had struck Houthi military targets near Yemen’s port of Hodeidah. The military said the attack was in “retaliation for hundreds of attacks carried out against the State of Israel in recent months.”
A U.S. official also confirmed to CBS News that Israel carried out the Yemeni airstrikes in retaliation for a Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv on Friday that killed at least one person and wounded eight. The official said the U.S. had no involvement in Saturday’s airstrike.
Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam posted on social media platform X that Yemen was under “blatant Israeli aggression” aimed at “increasing the suffering of the people and pressuring Yemen to stop supporting Gaza.”
Abdulsalam said the attack would make the Yemeni people and army even more determined to support Gaza.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Saturday that the rebels retaliated because it was the first time they had “harmed Israeli citizens.”
“And we will do this wherever it is needed,” he said. “The blood of the Israeli people has a price. This has been made clear in Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen and other places. If they dare attack us, the result will be the same.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the port that was attacked was not a “harmless port” but was being used as a “entrance point for lethal weapons supplied by Iran to the Houthis”.
“I would like to say to Israel’s enemies: make no mistake: we will defend our country in every way and on every front. Those who seek to harm us will pay a very heavy price for their acts of aggression,” he said.
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In a statement late Saturday, the Pentagon said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Foreign Minister Gallant held a conference call about “Israel’s response to the Houthi attacks.”
According to the Pentagon, during the call, Defense Secretary Austin “acknowledged Israel’s actions, which come after months of Houthi attacks on Israel,” and “reaffirmed the United States’ firm commitment to Israel’s security and its right to self-defense.”
A huge explosion ripped through a street in central Tel Aviv early on Friday, rousing Israelis from their beds, shattering windows and sending debris raining down, after Israeli military officials said the blast was the result of a drone fired from Yemen.
Houthi rebels, who have been fighting Yemen’s internationally recognised government in the decade-long civil war, claimed responsibility in a social media message saying the blast marked a “new phase” in their operation against Israel in response to Israeli attacks. An ongoing war Against Hamas, the Houthis’ ideological ally.
The Houthis claim the attack was carried out with a “new type of drone called the Yafa, which is capable of bypassing enemy anti-aircraft systems,” but a U.S. official told CBS News on Friday that he echoed the Israeli military’s analysis and said it appeared to be one of the group’s existing drones, modified with fuel tanks to extend its range.
The drone explosion occurred close to the US consulate in Tel Aviv, but it remains unclear whether it was the target.
Based on verified social media videos, CBS News confirmed that the explosion occurred just over 200 yards from the US Consulate in Tel Aviv. A US official told CBS News that no American casualties were reported.
Since January, U.S. and British forces Attacks on targets in YemenThis was done in retaliation for Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in retaliation for Israel’s war in Gaza, although many of the ships attacked had no connection to Israel.
The joint airstrikes have so far done little to deter Iranian-backed forces.
The Houthis have fired drones and missiles at Israel. Commercial and military vessels Israeli forces have been operating in the Red Sea and surrounding waters throughout the nine-month war in solidarity with Hamas, but all weapons fired at Israel before Friday had been intercepted by Israel or its Western allies.
CBS News’ Tucker Rials and Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.
