Israel Strikes in Yemen After Drone Attack on Tel Aviv

Houthis say fuel storage facilities, power plant were targeted
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 20, 2024 12:35 PM CDT
Israel Strikes Targets in Yemen
A man films the scene of an explosive drone attack in Tel Aviv on Friday. Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the strike.   (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

The Israeli military said Saturday it has struck several Houthi targets in western Yemen following a fatal drone attack by the rebel group in Tel Aviv the previous day. The Israeli strikes appeared to be the first on Yemeni soil since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, the AP reports. A number of military targets were hit in the western port city of Hodeidah, a Houthi stronghold, the Israeli army said, adding that its attack was "in response to the hundreds of attacks carried out against the state of Israel in recent months."

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam posted on X that Yemen was subjected to "blatant Israeli aggression" that targeted fuel storage facilities and the province's power station. He said the attacks aim "to increase the suffering of the people and to pressure Yemen to stop supporting Gaza." Abdulsalam said the attacks will only make the people of Yemen and its armed forces more determined to support Gaza. Mohamed Ali al-Houthi of the Supreme Political Council in Yemen wrote on X that "there will be impactful strikes." A media outlet controlled by Houthi rebels in Yemen, Al-Masirah TV, said the strikes on storage facilities for oil and diesel at the port and on the local electricity company caused deaths and injuries.

Health officials in Yemen said the strikes killed a number of people and injured others. The drone attack by Houthi rebels killed one person in the center of Tel Aviv and wounded at least 10 near the US Embassy early Friday. Virtually all projectiles fired from the southern Arabian country toward Israel have been intercepted, per the AP. Israel said that air defenses detected the drone on Friday but that an "error" occurred and "there was no interception." Since January, US and British forces have been striking targets in Yemen in response to the Houthis' attacks on commercial shipping, which the rebels described as retaliation for Israel's actions in the war in Gaza. However, many of the ships targeted are not linked to Israel.

(More Israel-Hamas war stories.)

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