Israel carried out attacks on ports and energy infrastructure in Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen early Thursday morning and threatened further attacks on the Iran-aligned militant group, which has fired hundreds of rockets at Israel over the past year.
While the Israeli jets were in the air, the Israeli military said it intercepted a rocket heading toward central Israel that destroyed a school building in the city of Ramat Efal in what a military spokesman described as falling shrapnel.
The Israeli attack, which involved 14 fighter jets and other aircraft, came in two waves: a first series of attacks on the ports of Salif and Ras Issa, and a second series of strikes on the capital Sanaa, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani told reporters.
“We have made extensive preparations for these operations, trying to improve our intelligence and optimize strikes,” he said.
Al Masirah TV, the main Houthi-run television news channel, said the airstrikes killed nine people, seven in Salif and two at the Ras Issa oil refineries, both in the western province of Hodeidah.
In Sana'a, strikes also targeted two central power plants south and north of the capital, where, according to Al Masirah, electricity was cut off to thousands of families.
The Israeli strikes followed a strike Monday by U.S. aircraft against a command and control facility run by the Houthis, who control much of Yemen.
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Military operations in the Red Sea
The Houthis, who have been carrying out attacks on international shipping near Yemen since November last year in solidarity with the Palestinians in Israel's war against Hamas, said they targeted the Israeli city of Tel Aviv with two ballistic missiles that same night and hit “precise targets.”
They also promised to respond to Israeli attacks.
“The Israeli attack will not deter Yemen from responding to this shameful aggression and supporting Gaza,” the group's military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said in a televised speech.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel will continue to respond to Houthi attacks.
“Whoever lays his hand against the State of Israel, his hand will be cut off; whoever harms will be harmed sevenfold,” Katz wrote in a post on X.
The Israeli military said specialists were examining the site of the attack in Ramat Efal and trying to confirm whether one or two missiles were fired.
Some Israeli media reported that a rocket hit the school, but Shoshani said initial signs suggested it was hit by shrapnel from a rocket.
One possibility was that the fuel tank, “which is a huge piece of metal, was still functional” after the rocket was captured, he added.
Since the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip began in October 2023, after Hamas led a surprise attack on Israel, the Houthis have attacked approximately 100 commercial ships with missiles and drones.
In a campaign that also killed four sailors, the Houthis seized one ship and sank two. Other missiles and drones were either intercepted in the Red Sea by separate US- and European-led coalitions or failed to reach their targets, which also included Western military ships.
Once a ragtag group in Yemen – one of the world's poorest countries – Iran has helped the Houthis become major players able to disrupt global shipping traffic in the Red Sea. CBC's Paul Hunter describes the Houthi rise and what the world should watch out for. (Correction: In a previous version of this video, we reported that Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by several countries and entities, including the UN. In fact, the UN does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization.)
The rebels say they are targeting ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK to force an end to Israel's campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked, including some bound for Iran, have little or no connection to the conflict.
The Houthis have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition for several years, leading to a stalemate in the broader war in Yemen that has killed more than 150,000 people, including civilians. The conflict also led to one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters, with tens of thousands more people believed to have died.