The Israeli army has confirmed that it bombed this Saturday Houthi positions in Yemen, in the port of the city of Hodeidaon the coast of the Red Sea, the day after a drone launched by rebels exploded over Tel Aviv and killed an Israeli civilian.

The attack came “in response to the hundreds of attacks carried out against the State of Israel.” in recent months“The Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu followed the attacks live with Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi sitting next to him, as shown in images released by the president’s office an hour and a half after the attacks.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has also followed the operation with Netanyahu and Halevi from the Air Force Command Center, an attack carried out “by Israeli aircraft in the port of Hodeida2,000 kilometres from the State of Israel,” his ministry said in a statement.

Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels have confirmed that Israeli aircraft bombed oil depots and the power station in the port city, where the Houthi Ministry of Health has said There are “dead and wounded”“A brutal Israeli aggression against Yemen targeted civilian facilities, oil depots and the power station in Al Hodeida (…) so that we stop supporting Gaza, which is a dream that will not come true,” said Houthi insurgent spokesman Mohamed Abdelsalam.

“Fire is visible throughout the Middle East”

“The fire that is currently burning in Yemen “You see it all over the Middle East. The first time the Houthis harmed an Israeli citizen, we hit them. We will do it wherever necessary,” said Gallant, who approved the operation in Hodeida this morning after a meeting with the military leadership early on Saturday.

The minister said that the Houthis have attacked Israel in recent months. “more than 200 times“, but he remembered that”The blood of Israeli citizens has a price“This has become clear in Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen and elsewhere: if they dare to attack us, the result will be identical,” he threatened.

Local media reported that Israel sent F-35 jets to the port city, while numerous users posted videos on social media showing the aircraft flying over the Red Sea, recorded from the southern Israeli city of Eilat. An Iranian-made Sammad-3 drone launched from Yemen hit the Red Sea in 2017. early Friday morning in Tel Aviv airspacenear the US embassy, ​​exploding in the air in the centre of the city, without sounding the air raid warnings due to “human error”.

The Houthis They also claimed responsibility for launching a ballistic missile and three other drones against Tel Aviv, intercepted by the anti-aircraft batteries deployed by the US in the region before reaching Israeli airspace, but a fourth drone exploded over the city. Although it was detected by the Iron Dome defense system, it was not intercepted, as it was not classified as a hostile object due to “human error”, and caused the death of a 50-year-old man, identified as Yevgeny Ferder, as well as eight wounded.

Yesterday’s attack is the Houthis’ most far-reaching action against Israel since they began attacking ships linked to the country in the Red Sea, as well as the southern city of Eilat, since November 19, “in solidarity” with the Gaza militias. although none have resulted in fatalities or caused serious damage.