Israel has carried out air strikes on the Houthi-controlled Red Sea port of Hodeidah in Yemen, a day after a drone launched by the group hit Tel Aviv.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said his country aimed to send a message to the Houthi movement.
“The fire that is currently burning in Hodeidah, is seen across the Middle East and the significance is clear,” he said.
Houthi-linked news outlets said three people were killed and more than 80 injured in Saturday’s strikes, in what Houthi official Mohammed Abdulsalam said was a “brutal Israel aggression against Yemen”.
On Sunday morning, the Israeli military said it had shot down a missile fired from Yemen before it crossed into Israel’s air space.
It added that air sirens had been activated in Israel’s Red Sea port of Eilat “following the possibility of falling shrapnel”.
Mr Abdulsalam said that the Israeli strikes were aimed at pressuring the Houthis to stop supporting the Palestinians in Gaza, something he said would not happen.
It is the first time Israel has responded directly to what it says have been hundreds of Yemeni drone and missile attacks aimed at its territory in recent months.
Footage from Hodeidah showed huge fires raging on Saturday evening. The Houthi-run government in Sanaa said Israel struck oil storage facilities close to the shore, as well as a nearby power plant.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said: “After nine months of continuous aerial attacks by the Houthis in Yemen toward Israel, IAF [Israeli Air Force] fighter jets conducted an extensive operational strike over 1,800km [1,118 miles) away against Houthi terrorist military targets” in the area of the port of Hodeidah.
“The IDF is capable of operating anywhere required and will strike any force that endangers Israelis,” the statement said, adding that Saturday’s operation was codenamed Outstretched Arm.
Credit: bbc.com
