Last updated on August 27th, 2024 at 06:46 pm
The Israeli army said Saturday that it had targeted several Houthi sites in western Yemen after the rebel group launched a deadly drone attack in Tel Aviv the day before. This is the first action of Israel against Yemeni territory since the start of conflict between Israel and Hamas in October.
According to Dr. Anees Alasbahi, a spokesperson for the Houthis’ Ministry of Health in Sanaa, the Israeli airstrikes killed three people and injured at least 87, most of them having grave burns.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that this strike is a “direct response” to the attack on Israel on Friday.
“The port we targeted is not an innocent port,” he told a news conference. “It was used for military purposes and is also used as a part of the transhipment of weapons that have killed thousands of people, tens of thousands of people in Yemen over the last several years, and also have been used to kill people in Saudi
The spokesperson for the Houthi movement, Mohammed Abdulsalam, said in a posting on the social network X that Yemen was struck by “blatant Israeli aggression” targeting fuel storage facilities and the province’s power station. “Their aim,” he said, “was to increase the suffering of the people and to pressure Yemen to stop supporting Gaza.
Abdulsalam added that the attacks would only unify more the Yemeni people and their armed forces in steadfastness to support Gaza. Mohamed Ali al-Houthi of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council warned of “impactful strikes” on X.
Al-Masirah TV, which is affiliated with the Houthi movement in Yemen, added that oil and diesel storage facilities at the port, as well as a local electricity company, had become targets in the attack that caused deaths, injuries, and burns among several citizens. It said that the port had seen a huge fire that left it in a power blackout.
An IDF official said an explosion followed after a drone struck in the area
Zaki Heller, a spokesman for Magen David Adom, Israel’s medical emergency service, said a 50-year-old man died in an apartment building struck by the strike. Also, a civilian was confirmed to have died from the IDF official himself, at least 10 others injured from the attack.
