At least 80 people were injured in the Israeli raids on Houthi targets in Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah, causing a massive firethe day after the deadly drone strike in Tel Aviv by Yemeni rebels, in a new escalation in the wider region.

Most of the injured have suffered “severe burns”.

“Israeli warplanes struck military targets of the Houthi terrorist regime in the Hodeidah port area of ​​Yemen, in retaliation for hundreds of attacks carried out against the State of Israel” by the rebels in recent months, it said. Israeli army. These are the first strikes in Yemen for which Israel has claimed responsibility.

An Israeli military official stressed that the operation hit dual-use targets, including energy infrastructure. He added that Israel had briefed allies ahead of the raids, which the military said were carried out by Israeli F-15 fighter jets, all of which returned safely to base.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a televised message he stated that the port bombed today by Israeli warplanes in Yemen was being used as an entry point for the Houthis to receive Iranian weapons. Netanyahu said the strike, which took place some 1,800 km from Israel’s border, was a a reminder to the enemies that there was no place Israel could not reach.

For their part, the Yemeni rebels warned that Israel would “pay the price” for his current attacks, which according to them caused victims. The Houthis will not hesitate to attack “vital targets” in Israel, a military spokesman for the movement said after the airstrikes.

“The Zionist entity will pay the price for targeting civilian facilities and we will respond to escalation with escalation,” warned Mohammed al-Buhaiti, a member of the Houthi politburo.

A senior rebel official, Mohamed Abdelsalam, condemned a “barbaric attack by Israel” against the strategic port of Hodeidah.

As he said in a post on social media, the attack hit “fuel storage facilities and a power plant” in Hodeidah and was aimed “to pressure Yemen to stop supporting” the Palestinians.

“Enemy raids” caused casualties, the Houthi health ministry announced, without giving an exact count.

The Al-Massirah TV network broadcast images of Yemeni civilians receiving first aid in hospitals after the Israeli strikes, according to the network. Some appeared to be bandaged and lying on stretchers. A man who spoke to Al-Massirah said many of the injured were porters.

The aerial bombardment caused a huge fire and massive damage to the port. A huge plume of black smoke rose into the sky, according to images from Al-Massirah. “Civil defense teams and firefighters are trying to put out the fire burning oil tanks at the port,” he said.

Retaliation to retaliation

“The blood of Israeli citizens has a price,” said the Israeli defense minister Joab Gallant after the attack, saying it was a message, threatening retaliation against the Houthis. “This has been clearly demonstrated in Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen and other places – if they dare to attack us, the result will be the same,” he said.

In the early hours of Friday morning, an Iranian-made long-range drone struck downtown Tel Aviv, killing one person and slightly injuring four others, according to the Israeli military and emergency services. The Houthis claimed responsibility for this attack.

“The fire burning right now in Hodeidah is visible across the Middle East and the significance is clear.” “The Houthis attacked us more than 200 times. The first time they killed an Israeli citizen, we bombed them. And we will do this in any place that may be needed,” he added.

Today’s strikes in Hodeidah are the first for which Israel has claimed responsibility against Yemen, said Mohammed Albasa, a Middle East analyst at US-based Navanti.

The port of Hodeidah, a key entry point for fuel and goods to rebel-held areas of Yemen, has remained largely intact throughout Yemen’s war, he noted.

“Now traders fear that (these strikes) will worsen the already critical food and humanitarian security situation in northern Yemen, as most trade passes through this port,” he said.

Scale to existing scale

Since last November, Iran-aligned Yemeni rebels frequently launch missile and drone attacks against Israeli cities and merchant ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which are connected to Israel, thus expressing – as they claim – their solidarity with the Palestinian people.

In recent months, they have also claimed responsibility for several attacks targeting the Israeli Red Sea city of Eilat, but the vast majority of the missiles were intercepted.

In December, the US, Israel’s main ally, formed a multinational military force to protect shipping in the Red Sea and has launched numerous strikes against the Houthis in Yemen since January, with the help of the British military

The war in Yemen, the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula, has been raging since 2014 between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed government. The war has caused one of the most serious humanitarian crises in the world.

The bombings come amid a devastating war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip – which has raged for nine months and escalating daily firefights between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, with the Israeli prime minister preparing to travel in Washington where he is going to make a speech to the US Congress.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called for broader international action to strengthen sanctions against Iran, which he said supports the Houthis’ efforts to disrupt freedom of the seas and trade routes. “Iran is the head of the snake – it must be stopped now,” he said.