Israel says it carried out airstrikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah port and a cement factory after a missile fired by the Houthi movement landed near Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv.
The attack came a day after the Houthi missile strike, which was the first known projectile from the group to avoid interception since it began targeting Israel in November 2023. Israel said the sites hit in Yemen were used to support Houthi military activity. The Houthi-run health ministry spokesman said at least 21 people were injured.
According to the Israeli military, the cement factory east of Hodeidah was an important economic resource that the Houthis used to build tunnels and military infrastructure. Israel also said the seaport served as a hub for weapons and equipment from Iran. Al Jazeera noted that those claims could not be independently verified.
The strikes were described by correspondent Ali Hashem as involving about 30 Israeli warplanes and being overseen from a command center in Tel Aviv by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz. A senior US official quoted by Axios said the raids were coordinated with the United States, while a US defense source told Al Jazeera that American forces did not participate directly. That leaves the extent of any US involvement unclear.
The Houthi-controlled outlet Al Masirah reported six strikes on the port and blamed both Israel and the US. The confusion over participation reflects how the Yemen theater has become intertwined with wider regional tensions, especially since the war in Gaza escalated and the Houthis intensified attacks on shipping and on Israel itself.
Israel has struck targets in Yemen before. In December, air raids hit the Ras Isa oil terminal and other sites in Hodeidah province, killing at least nine people. The latest attack, however, was presented by Al Jazeera as the start of a “new phase” in Israeli strikes on Yemen.
The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, have said their campaign is in support of Palestinians in Gaza and in response to Israel’s war there. Since November 2023, the group has launched more than 100 drone and missile attacks targeting vessels it says are linked to Israel in the Red Sea. The movement paused some attacks during a fragile Gaza ceasefire earlier this year, but resumed after Israel cut off humanitarian aid and restarted its offensive in March.
The latest exchange therefore sits at the intersection of several crises: the Houthi campaign in the Red Sea, Israel’s war in Gaza and the widening contest over airspace, shipping lanes and regional deterrence. The immediate effect was damage and casualties in Yemen; the broader effect is another reminder that the conflict now reaches far beyond Gaza and Israel’s borders.
Because the claims about weapons routes and coordination remain disputed, the strike also illustrates the fog that now surrounds almost every regional escalation involving Israel, Yemen and the United States. Even when the target list is narrow, the political message is broad: each side is trying to show it can hit back faster and harder than before. That dynamic matters because the Red Sea attacks have already pulled shipping, air defense and alliance politics into the same frame. The Hodeidah raid suggests there is still room for that frame to widen.
