Six strikes targeted Yemen’s Hodeidah port, the Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV reported on Monday, blaming the strikes on Israel and the United States a day after the Iran-aligned Houthis fired a missile that struck near Israel’s main airport.
Israel’s military later confirmed that it had targeted the port and Axios reporter Barak Ravid cited a senior U.S. official as saying Israel had attacked Yemen in coordination with Washington.
Israeli media including channel 12 also cited a senior Israeli official who they said confirmed Israel was attacking Yemen.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday vowed to retaliate for the attack by the Houthis, who have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea in what they say is solidarity with the Palestinians.
Most attacks from Yemen have been intercepted by Israel’s missile defense systems, though a drone strike hit Tel Aviv last year. Sunday’s missile was the first known to have escaped being intercepted of a series of missiles fired since March.
It came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday an expanded offensive against Palestinian militant group Hamas would be “intensive” after his security cabinet approved plans that may include seizing the Gaza Strip and controlling aid.
Netanyahu said in a video message the operation would be “intensive” and would see more Palestinians in Gaza moved “for their own safety”.
He said Israeli troops would not follow previous tactics based on short raids by forces based outside Gaza. “The intention is the opposite,” he said, echoing comments from other officials who have said the country would hold on to the ground it has seized.
Israeli troops have already taken over an area amounting to around a third of Gaza, displacing the population and building watchtowers and surveillance posts on cleared ground the military has described as security zones, but the new plan would go further.
