Israel and its allies have escalated strikes against the Houthis to try to force them to stop firing on Israel and Red Sea shipping lanes, but it was not clear whether they would deter the Iran-backed militia.
Israeli fighter jets bombed ports and a power plant in Yemeni territory controlled by the Houthis on Friday, the Israeli military said, in the latest attempt to force the Iranian-backed militant group to stop firing at Israel and commercial ships in the Red Sea.
Israel has escalated its strikes on the Houthis in recent weeks in response to repeated attacks by the Yemeni militia, which has been firing on Israel in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza.
The United States and Britain have also struck Yemen repeatedly in an effort to secure international waterways from Houthi attacks. But it was far from clear whether Israel and its allies could successfully compel the Houthis to end their attacks through a bombing campaign.
Israel’s Air Force bombed the Hezyaz power station near Sana — the Houthi-controlled capital — not far from where thousands of Yemenis had gathered in a weekly solidarity rally with Palestinians. The ports of Hudaydah and Ras Isa, Yemen’s main oil export terminal were also attacked, the Israeli military said in a statement.
Experts have warned that attacking ports like Hudaydah, a major conduit for essential supplies in northern Yemen, could further worsen what is already one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Rocked by civil war for more than a decade, millions of people in Yemen face the threat of malnutrition, according to the United Nations.
The Israeli military said it had struck targets at sites that were being used by the Houthis for military purposes. One worker at the Hezyaz power station was wounded, according to al-Masira, the Houthi-affiliated broadcaster. There were no other immediate reports of serious casualties.