Israeli airstrikes target Yemen’s Houthis day after deadly drone attack in Tel Aviv

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have blamed Israel after a series of strikes hit

Israeli airstrikes targeted Houthi rebels in Yemen a day after the Iran-backed group claimed a deadly attack on the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. The Israel Defense Forces said its fighter jets struck “military targets of the Houthi terrorist regime” in the area of Yemen’s Hodeidah Port on Saturday. Spokesperson Daniel Haggari said the strikes were in response to both the death of a 50-year-old Israeli in a Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv Friday and the roughly 200 projectiles the rebel group has fired towards Israel since October. This is the first time Israel has struck Yemen, according to Israeli officials. The Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said the Israeli strikes targeted oil facilities in the port on Yemen’s west coast, adding that there had been deaths and injuries. Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam said the strikes had also hit civilian targets and a power station. He slammed what he said was “brutal Israeli aggression” aimed at increasing the “suffering of the people of Yemen” and pressuring it to stop its support of Gaza. Houthi army spokesperson Yehya Saree vowed to respond to the strike, saying the Houthis would not hesitate to strike Israel’s “vital targets” and warning that Tel Aviv was still not safe.