IDF strikes ports and power stations in Yemen

Israel has struck ports and energy infrastructure in Yemen, targeting sites linked to the Houthi militant movement. The strikes were in retaliation for recent Houthi military actions, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The IDF announced the operation on Thursday morning, hours after the latest Houthi missile attack, which an Israeli military spokesman said forced millions of people in his country to rush to bomb shelters.

Warplanes struck locations that the IDF claimed were being used for military purposes, “including ports and energy infrastructure in Sanaa,” Yemen’s capital.

A spokesman for the Houthis confirmed the attacks on X, claiming that the targets were civilian. IDF airstrikes killed nine people, including seven in the port of Salif and two at an oil facility at the port of Ras Isa, according to Nasruddin Amer, the deputy head of the Houthi media office. The Israelis also attacked two power stations in the capital, he reported, sharing images purportedly showing the aftermath.

For months, the Houthis have been launching attacks against Israel and trying to enforce a naval blockade of the country by targeting traffic in the Red Sea in order to raise the cost of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which was launched in response to a deadly incursion by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in October 2023.

Israel describes the Yemeni organization as terrorists and proxies of its archenemy Iran. The group poses a threat to the world due to its targeting of commercial ships, West Jerusalem claims.

Amer said the latest attack in Yemen will not deter the Houthis from “supporting Gaza, no matter the cost.”

The US has been conducting strikes in Yemen for months in what it calls a mission to protect freedom of navigation and deter attacks against its regional ally Israel.