Israel intercepts missile from Yemen after raids on Houthi port

Although it was not immediately clear who fired the missile, a Houthi military spokesman vowed to respond to Israeli airstrikes on Saturday on Hodeidah, a port city in Yemen controlled by the rebel group. The spokesman, Yahya Saree, said the Israeli strikes hit the port, a power station and a fuel tank.

Sari said on Sunday that his group had fired “a number of rockets” at targets in the southern Israeli coastal city of Eilat. It was not immediately clear if the two alleged attacks were the same. Earlier on Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces said it had fired a ballistic missile at targets in the southern Israeli coastal city of Eilat. He said Air defense sirens sounded in the Eilat area.

Israeli strikes on Saturday The attacks were in response to a rare drone attack on Tel Aviv on Friday, which the Houthis claimed responsibility for. The attack killed one person and took place just meters from the US embassy branch office.

An Israeli Defense Forces official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations, told reporters on Sunday that the airstrikes in Yemen were carried out using a dozen aircraft — including fighter jets and tankers. The official said the “long-range” strikes hit targets some 1,050 miles (1,700 kilometers) from Israel.

The Israeli attack on the port of Hodeidah, a vital hub for imports to the impoverished country, sparked massive fires. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the port was “being used as an entry point for deadly weapons supplied by Iran to the Houthis.”

Netanyahu said the Israeli response to the drone attack “made clear to our enemies that there is no place that the long arm of the State of Israel does not reach.”

After the war in Gaza began in October, the Houthis began attacking ships near the Yemeni coast in an attempt to pressure Israel to end its military operations in the Strip. A US-led naval task force responded to the attacks, but was unable to stop them entirely.

• Netanyahu is scheduled to travel to Washington this week to address a joint meeting of Congress. The Israeli leader was scheduled to meet with President Biden, who announced Sunday that he was ending his re-election bid. Biden has said he will continue as president for the rest of his term, though it was not immediately clear whether Tuesday’s meeting between the two leaders would continue.
• The Saudi Foreign Ministry said that the Israeli attack on Yemen “further exacerbates the current tension in the region.” He called on both sides to “exercise maximum restraint.” Riyadh, which has fought its own years-long war against the Houthis, He said The US State Department said Sunday it was following the latest military developments in Yemen with “grave concern.”
• The Israeli occupation forces continue their operations inside the Gaza Strip. the Israeli Defense Army He saidThe Israeli military added that it found “mortar shells ready to be fired” in the Rafah area, while an Israeli aircraft identified a group of armed opposition fighters that the IDF “eliminated”. The forces also found and dismantled tunnels and underground infrastructure in the Tel al-Sultan area. In the central Gaza Strip, the IDF found “various types of weapons”.
• At least 38,983 people were killed and 89,727 injured. They have been injured in Gaza since the war began, The Gaza health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but says most of the dead were women and children, said the death toll was 1,200. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas offensive on Oct. 7, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 1,200 of them were women and children. 326 soldiers They were killed since the start of its military operations in Gaza.