Israeli airstrikes on the Yemeni port city of Hodeida kill three people

Israeli warplanes struck Yemen’s Houthi-controlled port of Hodeida on Saturday, killing at least three people and wounding 87 others, according to health authorities.

It comes a day after a drone strike by Iran-backed rebels killed a civilian in Tel Aviv, both sides said.

The strikes, which sparked a massive fire and plumes of black smoke, are the first claimed by Israel in the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country, some 2,000 kilometers (1,300 miles) away, analysts said.

“The blood of Israeli citizens has a price,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, adding that more operations would follow against the Houthis “if they dare to attack us.”

Gallant said the Hodeida strikes were also a warning to other Iranian-backed armed groups in the Middle East that claimed attacks on Israel during the Gaza war.

“The fire currently burning in Hodeida is seen in the Middle East and the significance is clear,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated the warning in a televised address. “Anyone who harms us will pay a very high price for their aggression,” he said.

Just hours after Friday’s strike in Tel Aviv, Gallant vowed that Israel would retaliate against the Houthis, who control swaths of Yemen, including much of the Red Sea coast.

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the F-15 jets carried out the attack and returned safely to the base.

Rear Admiral Hagari accused the Houthis of using Hodeida “as the main supply route for the transfer of Iranian weapons … such as the (drone) that was used in Friday’s attack.”

In a statement on social media, Houthi official Mohammed Abdulsalam reported a “brutal aggression by Israel against Yemen”.

The attack targeted “fuel storage facilities and a power plant” in Hodeida “to pressure Yemen to stop supporting” the Palestinians in the Gaza war, he said.

The Houthi-led Health Ministry initially said at least 80 people were injured in the Israeli strikes, most with severe burns. No deaths were immediately reported.

a AFP correspondent in Hodeida reported hearing several large explosions and seeing smoke over the port.

Footage broadcast by rebels Al-Masirah television, which AFP could not independently verify, it showed victims being treated at the hospital, many of them bandaged and lying on stretchers in crowded rooms.

A man interviewed by the broadcaster said many of the injured were port employees.

“The city is dark, people are on the streets, gas stations are closed and I see long queues,” said one resident of Hodeida, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing safety concerns.

Maritime security firm Ambrey said it spotted four merchant ships in port at the time of the airstrike and another eight at anchor.

“No damage to commercial vessels has been reported at this time,” the statement said.

The United States, which along with Britain has carried out several rounds of airstrikes against the Houthis in an attempt to end their attacks on ships in the Red Sea, said it played no role in Saturday’s attacks.

“The United States was not involved in today’s attacks in Yemen, and we did not coordinate or assist Israel with the attacks,” a spokesman for the US National Security Council said.

“I have been in regular and ongoing contact with the Israelis following the attack in Tel Aviv that killed an Israeli civilian on Friday morning. We recognize and fully recognize Israel’s right to self-defense.”

UN chief Antonio Guterres called for “maximum restraint” after the Tel Aviv drone strike to avoid “further escalation in the region”.

But Houthi politburo member Mohammed al-Bukhaiti quickly threatened retaliation for the Hodeida strikes.

“The Zionist entity will pay the price for targeting civilian installations and we will meet escalation with escalation,” he said in a social media post.

The Houthis’ Lebanese ally Hezbollah warned that the Israeli strikes on Hodeida marked a dangerous turn nine months into the Gaza war.

“The insane step taken by the Zionist enemy heralds a dangerous new phase,” said the group, which exchanged fire with the Israeli army almost daily throughout the war.

The port of Hodeida, a vital entry point for imports and international aid to rebel-held areas of Yemen, has remained largely untouched by the decade-long war between the Houthis and the internationally recognized government backed by neighboring Saudi Arabia.

The war has left millions of Yemenis dependent on aid delivered through the port.

“Traders now fear that this will exacerbate the already critical food security and humanitarian situation in northern Yemen, as most trade flows through this port,” said Mohammed Albasha, senior Middle East analyst for the US-based Navanti Group.