Israeli airstrikes hit Houthis after Iran-backed rebels’ drone assault on Tel Aviv

Israeli fighter jets struck Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday, the Israeli Defense Forces said, a day after the Iran-backed terrorists launched a deadly drone attack on Tel Aviv.

The Israeli airstrikes mark another escalation in the Middle East war, which now sees Israel conducting military operations across the region, including in the Gaza Strip and along its northern border against Lebanon-based Hezbollah. In April, Israel is also believed to have carried out retaliatory airstrikes against Iran after the Islamic Republic launched its own major drone-and-missile attack against the Jewish state.

Saturday’s strike against Yemen’s Houthis, the first time Israel has carried out attacks on Yemen, reportedly struck oil storage facilities in the port city of Hodeidah. The Houthis reported an unspecified number of fatalities and injuries, according to the Al Jazeera news outlet.

In a post on X, Israel framed the strikes as payback for numerous attempted Houthi attacks on Israel the past nine months, which followed Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist assault on the Jewish state. The Houthis have pledged solidarity with Hamas. Both groups are backed by Tehran.

“A short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck military targets of the Houthi terrorist regime in the area of [Hodeidah] in Yemen in response to the hundreds of attacks carried out against the state of Israel in recent months,” the IDF said.

The Houthis have repeatedly fired drones and missiles toward Israel, in addition to their campaign to disrupt commercial ship traffic in and around the Red Sea.

Those attacks were mostly unsuccessful, as the Houthi missiles and drones were routinely intercepted by Israeli defenses. But that changed Friday, when a Houthi drone strike hit central Tel Aviv, killing one person and injuring at least 10.

The strike took place near a U.S. diplomatic complex.

After that attack, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed retaliation against the group.

Since January, the U.S. and Britain have led a multinational air campaign targeting Houthi positions along Yemen’s coast. Those strikes have slowed the Houthi attacks against commercial ships, but have not completely stopped them.