Israel launches airstrikes on Yemen a day after Houthi rebels strike Israeli airport

[ad_1] JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s navy focused Houthi rebels in Yemen’s Purple Sea province of Hodeida on Monday with a punishing spherical of airstrikes, killing no less than one individual and wounding 35. The strikes got here a day after the Iranian-backed rebels launched a missile that hit Israel’s essential airport.

The rebels’ media workplace mentioned no less than six strikes hit the essential Hodeida port Monday afternoon. Different strikes hit a cement manufacturing unit within the Bajil district, situated 55 kilometers (34 miles) northeast of Hodeida metropolis, the rebels mentioned. The extent of injury on the two services wasn’t instantly clear.

The Israeli navy mentioned greater than 20 Israeli fighter planes took half within the operation, dropping greater than 50 munitions on dozens of targets.

Hodeida residents mentioned they heard explosions on the port, with flames and smoke seen rising over the realm. Ambulance sirens had been additionally heard throughout town, they mentioned.

“It was very robust,” Ahmed Saleh, who lives near the port, mentioned of the explosions.

In Bajil, fires and thick columns of smoke had been seen over the cement manufacturing unit, which the Houthis mentioned was hit by each U.S. and Israeli strikes. Ambulances additionally rushed to the realm, mentioned resident Khalid Seif.

The Houthi-run well being ministry mentioned no less than one individual was killed and 35 others had been wounded within the Israeli strikes on the manufacturing unit. It mentioned rescuers had been nonetheless looking for lacking individuals.

On Sunday, the Houthis launched a missile from Yemen that struck an access road near Israel’s main airport , briefly halting flights and commuter visitors. 4 individuals had been flippantly injured. It was the primary time a missile struck the grounds of Israel’s airport because the begin of the struggle.

The Houthis claimed that the strikes had been a joint Israeli-American operation. Nevertheless, a U.S. protection official mentioned U.S. forces didn't take part within the Israeli strikes on Yemen on Monday. The strikes weren't a part of Operation Rough Rider , which is the continuing U.S. navy operation towards the Houthis in Yemen to stop them from focusing on ships within the Purple Sea that began March 15. The official spoke on the situation of anonymity to debate delicate issues.

Individually, the U.S. navy launched a number of strikes Monday on Sanaa, one other U.S. official mentioned. That official additionally spoke on situation of anonymity to debate navy operations.

Nasruddin Amer, head of the Houthi media workplace, mentioned the Israeli strikes received’t deter the rebels, vowing they are going to reply to the assault.

“The aggressive Zionist-American raids on civilian services is not going to have an effect on our navy operations towards the Zionist enemy entity,” he mentioned on social media.

He mentioned the Houthis will escalate their assaults and received’t cease focusing on delivery routes and Israel till it stops the struggle in Gaza.

The Houthis have focused Israel all through the struggle in solidarity with Palestinians, elevating their profile at house and internationally because the final member of Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” able to launching common assaults on Israel. The U.S. navy below President Donald Trump has launched an intensified campaign of daily airstrikes focusing on the Houthis since March 15.

Houthi rebels have fired at Israel because the struggle with Gaza started on Oct. 7, 2023. The missiles have principally been intercepted, though some have penetrated Israel’s missile protection methods, inflicting harm. Israel has struck again towards the rebels in Yemen.

The Israeli navy mentioned it focused the Hodeida port as a result of Houthi rebels had been utilizing it to obtain weapons and navy tools from Iran. Insurgent-held Hodeida, about 145 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of the capital Sanaa, has been key for meals shipments into Yemen as its decade-long struggle continues.

Israel has struck Yemen, and particularly the port metropolis of Hodeida, a number of instances. It beforehand struck Hodeida and its oil infrastructure in July after a Houthi drone attack killed one individual and wounded 10 in Tel Aviv. In September, Israel struck Hodeida once more, killing no less than 4 individuals after a insurgent missile focused Israel’s Ben Gurion airport as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was arriving again to the nation. In December, Israeli strikes killed at least nine people in Hodeida. The Houthis have launched a number of missiles towards Israel prior to now week.

The assault on Ben-Gurion Worldwide Airport on Sunday got here hours earlier than Israeli Cupboard ministers voted to develop the struggle in Gaza, together with to seize the Gaza Strip and to remain within the Palestinian territory for an unspecified period of time. Whereas air visitors resumed after an hour, the assault may result in cancelations of many airways, which had lately resumed flights to Israel.

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Magdy reported from Cairo. Related Press writers Tara Copp and Lolita Baldor contributed from Washington.

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