Israeli Military carried military airstrikes against targets in Gaza, Yemen and Lebanon over the weekend. A series of strikes hit the Houthi-controlled port city of Hodeidah in Yemen on Saturday.
The airstrikes targeted “military purposes” at the Hodeidah port, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Explosions were reportedly heard throughout the city during the bombardment.
The Israeli military said in a statement on Saturday: "A short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck military targets of the Houthi terrorist regime in the area of the Al Hudaydah [Hodeidah] Port in Yemen in response to the hundreds of attacks carried out against the State of Israel in recent months."
The strikes come a day after the Houthis claimed responsibility for a drone strike near the US embassy in central Tel Aviv, which left one person dead and injured up to 10 others.
In a statement, Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said that the "fire currently burning in Hodeidah is seen across the Middle East and the significance is clear." He added: "The Houthis attacked us over 200 times. The first time that they harmed an Israeli citizen, we struck them. And we will do this in any place where it may be required."
Earlier on Saturday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it had received reports of two attacks on a vessel 64 nautical miles (118.5 km) northwest of Yemen's Mokha, causing slight damage. The captain reported attacks by an aerial drone, which exploded close to the vessel and by a seaborne drone, which also exploded nearby.
Commenting on the attacks, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam wrote on X that "blatant Israeli aggression" targeted fuel storage facilities and the province's power station. “The Israeli aggression aims to increase the suffering of the people and to pressure Yemen to stop supporting Gaza” he said.
Israel also struck two weapon depots in southern Lebanon, causing a large explosion, in response to Hezbollah’s support for Hamas and the Houthis. The Islamic terrorist group has been firing rockets and flying drones into Northern Israel.
The strikes in Yemen and Lebanon come amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, with reports of tens of thousands of civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure.
Netanyahu arrived in Washington DC Monday, to meet President Joe Biden who is rumored to be incapacitated due to steep cognitive decline and reportedly recovering from Covid. The Israeli prime minister met with vice president Kamala Harris instead.