Jerusalem:
The Israeli military said on Sunday it was striking several Houthi rebel targets in Yemen, including power stations and a seaport, using dozens of aircraft.
The strikes came a day after the Iran-backed rebel group said it targeted Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport with a missile.
“In a large-scale air operation today, dozens of Air Force aircraft, including fighter jets, refuelling planes, and reconnaissance aircraft, attacked military-use targets of the Houthi terrorist regime in the Ras Issa and Hodeida areas of Yemen,” military spokesman Captain David Avraham said in a statement to AFP.
“The IDF (military) targeted power stations and a seaport used for oil imports,” a military statement said.
In July Israel also hit Hodeida port, causing what a port official said was at least $20 million in damage, after a Houthi drone strike penetrated Israel’s air defences and killed a civilian in Tel Aviv.
The sites targeted Sunday were used by the Houthis, who seized the Yemeni capital Sanaa in 2014, to “transfer Iranian weaponry to the region and supplies for military needs”, the statement said.
“The strike was carried out in response to recent attacks by the Huthi regime against the state of Israel,” it added, after the rebels said they tried to hit Ben Gurion as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived back from New York.
The Houthi-controlled Al-Masirah station reported Sunday that Israeli strikes targeted “the ports of Hodeidah and Ras Issa” as well as two power stations after previously announcing “Israeli aggression on Hodeida”.
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