Israel says its fighter jets have carried out a series of strikes against military targets in Yemen belonging to the Iran-backed Houthi movement in response to missile and drone attacks.

An Israeli military spokesman said the targets included Red Sea ports and energy infrastructure in the capital Sanaa.

Al Masirah TV, run by the Houthis, reported that nine people were killed in Salif Port and the Ras Issa oil terminal in Hodeida province.

The attack came hours after a missile launched from Yemen was partially intercepted over central Israel. Part of the missile still hit a school in Ramat Gan on the edge of Tel Aviv, destroying a building.

The Houthis, who control northwestern Yemen, began attacking Israel and international shipping soon after the Gaza war broke out in October 2023, saying their actions were in solidarity with the Palestinians.

The Israeli military said that since then, about 400 missiles and drones have been launched from Yemen towards the country, most of which have been intercepted.

Israelis in Tel Aviv and surrounding areas were rushed to air raid shelters early Thursday morning when an incoming missile was shot down by an air defense system.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said a missile was launched from Yemen toward Israeli territory and was partially intercepted.

The report added that shrapnel fell in central Israel, including a missile warhead that directly hit a school in the Ramat Efal neighborhood of Ramat Gan. No injuries were reported.

Two hours after the attack, the Israel Defense Forces announced that its fighter jets had struck Houthi military targets on Yemen’s west coast and inland.

An Israeli attack on the Red Sea port of Salif killed seven people, while two people were killed and one wounded at the nearby Ras Issa oil terminal, according to Houthi-controlled Al Masirah. Two other people were reportedly injured in the southern port of Hodeidah.

The station also said the power stations in Haize and Daban, south and north of Sana’a, were also hit.

Meshaal al-Rifi, director of General Electric Co., said the local power supply was affected by damage to distribution stations and fuel tanks.

IDF spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari said: “The Houthis have been launching attacks against Israel in violation of international law. The Houthi regime poses a threat to peace and security in the region.”

“Today, the Israel Defense Forces conducted precision strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen, including the ports and energy infrastructure in Sanaa, which the Houthis have been exploiting to effectively facilitate their military operations.”

An Israeli military official said the operation was “planned” and that 14 jets and other associated aircraft “were already in the air” when the Houthis launched the missiles, the Financial Times reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “After Hamas, Hezbollah and the Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis are almost the last force in Iran’s axis of evil. They are and will find that no matter what Anyone who harms Israel will pay a heavy price.”

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Israel Katz warned Houthi leaders that “Israel’s long hand will also reach out to you.”

Houthi armed spokesman Yahya Saraya said that the organization launched two “hypersonic” ballistic missiles at two “sensitive military targets” in the Tel Aviv area at the same time as Israel launched the attack. The operation was “successful” achieved its objectives”.

He said: “Israeli aggression will not prevent Yemen and the Yemeni people from fulfilling their religious and moral obligations to respond to its massacres in the Gaza Strip, nor will it prevent Yemen from responding to this by continuing to support and strike with appropriate weapons all hostile targets. Brutal Aggression.” Extra.

This is Israel’s third direct attack on the Houthis in five months.

In July, after a Houthi drone attack killed one person in Tel Aviv, the Israeli military attacked Hodeidah’s port and oil infrastructure. In September, after the Houthi armed missiles attacked Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, the Houthi armed forces bombed Hodeidah again.

The United States and Britain have also carried out strikes against the Houthis and other military targets over the past year in response to attacks on global shipping in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

On Monday, U.S. Central Command said it was targeting a “critical command and control facility” in Sanaa that had been the center for coordinating the attack.

Since November 2023, the Houthis have attacked dozens of commercial ships with missiles, drones and small boats. They sank two merchant ships, seized a third, and killed four of its crew.

They said their actions were in support of the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. They claim (often falsely) that they target only ships with links to Israel, the United States, or the United Kingdom.