Israel attacks rebels in Yemen after attack in Tel Aviv

Israeli warplanes killed three people in the Houthi-controlled Yemeni port of Hodeidah, Iran-backed rebels said on Sunday after the group’s deadly drone attack in Tel Aviv.

The attacks on the vital port, which sparked fierce fires and clouds of black smoke, were the first Israel has claimed responsibility for in the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula, some 2,000 kilometers away, analysts said.

“The blood of Israeli citizens has its price,” said the Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant he said, adding that further operations against the Houthis would follow “if they dare to attack us.”

Gallant said the attacks on Hodeida were also a warning to other Iran-backed armed groups in the Middle East that claimed responsibility for attacks on Israel during the Gaza war.

“The fire currently burning in Hodeidah is visible throughout the Middle East and its significance is clear,” he said.

Three people were killed and 87 injured in the Israeli attacks, according to a statement from the rebel-run health ministry carried by Houthi media.

The ministry had previously stated that most of the injured had suffered severe burns.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated the warning in a televised address. “Anyone who harms us will pay a very high price for their aggression,” he said.

Just hours after Friday’s attack in Tel Aviv, Gallant announced that Israel would retaliate against the Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, including much of the Red Sea coast.

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the attack was carried out by F-15 jets and everyone returned safely to base.

Rear Admiral Hagari accused the Houthis of using Hodeidah “as a main supply route for the transfer of Iranian weapons … such as the one used in Friday’s attack.”

– “Brutal aggression” –

In a statement on social media, senior Houthi official Mohammed Abdulsalam spoke of “brutal Israeli aggression against Yemen.”

The attack targeted “fuel storage facilities and a power plant” in Hodeidah to pressure Yemen to end its support for the Palestinians in the Gaza war, he said.

An AFP correspondent in Hodeida reported hearing several large explosions and seeing smoke over the port.

Footage from the rebel television station Al-Masirah, which AFP could not independently verify, showed injured people being treated in hospitals, many of them lying bandaged on stretchers in crowded rooms.

A man interviewed by the broadcaster said many of the injured were port workers.

“The city is dark, people are on the streets, gas stations are closed and long queues are forming,” said a Hodeidah resident who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing security concerns.

Maritime security company Ambrey said it saw four merchant ships in port and eight more at anchor at the time of the airstrike.

“So far, no damage to merchant vessels has been reported,” it said.

– Concerns about vital aid for Yemen –

The United States, which along with Britain had carried out several air strikes against the Houthis to end their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, said it had nothing to do with Saturday’s attacks.

“The United States was not involved in today’s attacks in Yemen, and we did not coordinate the attacks or assist Israel in them,” a U.S. National Security Council spokesman said.

“We have been in regular and sustained contact with the Israelis since the attack in Tel Aviv that killed an Israeli civilian on Friday morning. We fully recognize Israel’s right to self-defense.”

After the drone attack in Tel Aviv, UN chief Antonio Guterres called for “maximum restraint” to avoid “further escalation in the region”.

But Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi political bureau, immediately threatened revenge for the attacks on Hodeida.

“The Zionist entity will pay the price for attacks on civilian facilities, and we will meet escalation with escalation,” he said in a social media post.

The Houthis’ Lebanese ally Hezbollah warned that the Israeli attacks on Hodeida marked a dangerous turning point nine months after the start of the Gaza war.

“The foolish step of the Zionist enemy heralds a new, dangerous phase,” said the group, which has exchanged fire with the Israeli army almost daily throughout the war.

The port of Hodeidah, a key access point for imports and international aid to rebel-held areas in Yemen, has remained largely untouched during the decade-long war between the Houthis and the internationally recognized government backed by neighboring Saudi Arabia.

Because of the war, millions of Yemenis depend on aid delivered through the port.

“Traders now fear this will exacerbate the already critical food security and humanitarian situation in northern Yemen, as most trade passes through this port,” said Mohammed Albasha, senior Middle East analyst at the U.S.-based Navanti Group.

bur/kir/hkb/rsc/sco