Israel launches strikes on Yemeni power plants, ports, killing at least four

Smoke rises from the site of Israeli air strikes in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, Yemen on Sunday. REUTERS

Israel bombed power plants and a sea port in Hodeidah and the port of Ras Issa in Yemen on Sunday in response to missile fire by the Houthis at Israel over the past two days, marking another front in fighting in the Middle East.

The Israeli strikes killed at least four people and wounded 29, the Houthi-run Health Ministry said in a statement, and residents said the bombing had caused power outages in most parts of the port city of Hodeidah.

It was the second such Israeli attack on Yemen in just over two months. In July, Israeli warplanes struck Houthi military targets near Hodeidah after a Yemeni drone hit Tel Aviv and killed one man.

Yemen’s Houthi militants have repeatedly fired missiles and drones at Israel in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians, since the Gaza war began with a Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

In their latest attack, the Houthis said they had launched a ballistic missile on Saturday towards the Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, which Israel said it had intercepted. Israel intercepted another Houthi missile on Friday.

In a post on X, Mohammed Abdulsalam, a spokesperson for the Houthis, said Sunday’s Israeli strikes would not cause the group to “abandon Gaza and Lebanon”.

Iran condemned the Israeli strikes, saying they had targeted civilian infrastructure, and President Masoud Pezeshkian said Israel should not be allowed to attack countries in the Iran-aligned “Axis of Resistance” one after the other.