Six airstrikes hit Yemen’s Hodeidah port on Monday, a day after the Iran-aligned Houthis fired a missile that landed near Israel’s main airport in Tel Aviv, Houthi-affiliated media reported, blaming Israel and the United States for the attack.
Israel has not commented on the airstrikes. Citing reports, news agency Reuters said a senior US official confirmed that Israel had carried out the strikes in coordination with Washington. Israeli media also quoted a senior Israeli official as confirming that Israel was targeting Yemen.
In a major escalation on Sunday, a missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels toward Israel struck near Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, reportedly injuring several people, sending a plume of smoke into the sky, and causing widespread panic among passengers inside the terminal.
“While most of the previous missiles launched by the Houthis, who have been targeting Israel in solidarity with Gaza’s Hamas, were intercepted by Israel’s defence systems, Sunday’s missile landed near a road close to the airport, creating a crater on impact.
Responding sharply, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate for the attack by the Houthis, saying, “There will be bangs”.
Netanyahu said, “We operated against them in the past and we will operate in the future”. “It’s not ‘bang — that’s it, but there will be bangs.”
The Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, began targeting Israel and Red Sea shipping in late 2023, during the early stages of the war between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip. They later escalated their campaign by launching direct missile strikes on Israeli territory.
In response, the Israeli military has carried out retaliatory strikes against Houthi positions in Yemen, while the United States, Israel’s key ally, launched its own wave of strikes against the group in March.
