3 killed as Israel launches retaliatory attack in Houthi stronghold in Yemen

At least three people were killed and 87 injured following an attack by Israeli warplanes in the Houthi-controlled Yemeni port of Hodeida on Saturday (July 20).

The attack came in retaliation to a fatal drone attack by the rebel group in Tel Aviv the previous day.

The Israeli strikes appeared to be the first on Yemeni soil since the Israel-Hamas war began in October.

A number of “military targets” were hit in the western port city of Hodeidah, a Houthi stronghold, the Israeli army said, adding that its attack was “in response to the hundreds of attacks carried out against the state of Israel in recent months”.

“The blood of Israeli citizens has a price,” Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said.

Gallant said the strikes were a warning to other militant groups backed by Iran that have claimed attacks on Israel during its war in Gaza.

Blatant Israeli aggression: Houthi spokesperson

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam confirmed the attack. He wrote on X that Yemen was subjected to a “blatant Israeli aggression” that targeted fuel storage facilities and the province's power station. He said the attacks aim “to increase the suffering of the people and to pressure Yemen to stop supporting Gaza”.

Abdulsalam said the attacks will only make the people of Yemen and its armed forces more determined to support Gaza. Mohamed Ali al-Houthi of the Supreme Political Council in Yemen wrote on X that "there will be impactful strikes”.

A media outlet controlled by Houthi rebels in Yemen, Al-Masirah TV, said the strikes on storage facilities for oil and diesel at the port and on the local electricity company caused deaths and injuries, and several people suffered severe burns. It said there was a large fire at the port and power cuts were widespread.

Houthi attack

The drone attack by Houthi rebels killed one person in the centre of Tel Aviv and wounded at least 10 others near the United States Embassy early on Friday.

Virtually all projectiles fired from the southern Arabian country toward Israel have so far been intercepted. Israel said air defences detected the drone on Friday but an “error” occurred and “there was no interception".

Since January, the US and British forces have been striking targets in Yemen, in response to the Houthis' attacks on commercial shipping that the rebels have described as retaliation for Israel's actions in the war in Gaza. However, many of the ships targeted are not linked to Israel.

The joint force airstrikes have so far done little to deter the Iran-backed force.

Iran’s backing

Analysts and Western intelligence services have long accused Iran of arming the Houthis, a claim Tehran denies. In recent years, US naval forces have intercepted a number of ships packed with rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and missile parts en route from Iran to Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

Also on Saturday, at least 13 people were killed in three Israeli airstrikes that hit refugee camps in central Gaza overnight, according to Palestinian health officials, as cease-fire talks in Cairo appeared to make progress.

Among the dead in Nuseirat Refugee Camp and Bureij Refugee Camp were three children and one woman, according to Palestinian ambulance teams that transported the bodies to the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

Israel-Hamas war

The war in Gaza, which was sparked by Hamas' October 7 attack on southern Israel, has killed more than 38,900 people, according to the territory's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The war has created a humanitarian catastrophe in the coastal Palestinian territory, displaced most of its 2.3 million population and triggered widespread hunger.

Hamas' October attack killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and militants took about 250 hostage. About 120 remain in captivity, with about a third of them believed to be dead, according to Israeli authorities.

The Israel-Hamas war has left thousands of women and children dead, according to health officials in the Gaza Strip. In April, a premature Palestinian baby was rescued from her dead mother's womb but died days later.

(With inputs from agencies)