Latest news with #IsraelStrikes
Al Jazeera
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Israel launches strikes on two Yemen ports
Israel says it has launched strikes on the Yemeni ports of Hodeidah and as-Salif in response to the Houthi rebels firing missiles towards Israel, days after the Yemeni group agreed a truce with the United States. The Israeli military said it carried out strikes on 'terrorist infrastructure' on Friday, saying on X that the two ports had been used by the Houthi rebel group to 'transfer weapons'. Al Masirah TV, a Houthi-affiliated outlet, also reported Israeli strikes on the two ports. The extent of any damage was not clear, and there no immediate reports of casualties. The Houthis have carried out a campaign of attacks against Israel in self-proclaimed solidarity with Palestinians after Israel launched its assault on Gaza in October 2023. Israel has carried out strikes in response, including one on May 6 that damaged Yemen's main airport in Sanaa and killed several people. Friday's attacks were the first since US President Donald Trump agreed to a ceasefire deal with the Houthis earlier this month, with the US halting its attacks on Yemen and the group agreeing to end its attacks on shipping lanes in the Red Sea. Israel was not included in that agreement, and its military said it intercepted several missiles fired from Yemen towards Israeli airspace this week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that the attacks are 'just the beginning', describing the Houthis as 'just a tool', alleging that Iran was 'behind them'. 'We will not stand idly by and allow the Houthis to harm us. We will strike them with greater force, including at their leadership and all the infrastructure that enables them to attack us,' he said in a statement posted on the government's social media account. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz pledged to 'hunt down and eliminate' Houthi leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi if the rebel group continued 'to fire missiles at the State of Israel'. Alluding to recent Houthi attacks on Israel, Katz indicated leader al-Houthi would meet the same fate as Hamas commanders Mohammed Deif and Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon – all killed in Israeli attacks over the last year. Al Jazeera's Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Jordan's capital Amman, said that since Israel broke a ceasefire agreement with Hamas back in March – killing almost 3,000 since then, according to Gaza's Health Ministry – the Houthis had launched 'at least 34 different projectiles' towards Israel. She said that Israel's policy 'moving forward' would be to strike back. 'For every missile that's fired, they're going to be conducting these types of air strikes,' she said.
The National
16-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Israel 'severely damages' Yemen ports in new strikes
Live updates: Follow the latest on Trump's Gulf trip Israel launched strikes on Yemen on Friday, which it said had "severely damaged" Houthi-controlled ports, hours after US President Donald Trump departed the region. The Israeli military said it "struck and dismantled terrorist infrastructure" at the ports of Hodeidah and Salif, which it said were being used to transfer weapons. The Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said there were "violent raids" at the ports. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Israel and the Iran-backed Houthis have exchanged several rounds of strikes, with Sanaa's international airport knocked out of action after the Yemeni rebels landed a missile near Israel's Ben Gurion Airport. "If the Houthis continue to fire missiles at the state of Israel, they will suffer painful blows," said Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz. He said rebel leader Abdul-Malik Al Houthi could be the next top militant "eliminated" by Israel after the killings of Hamas and Hezbollah chiefs. "Just as we did to Deif and the Sinwars in Gaza, to Nasrallah in Beirut, and to Haniyeh in Tehran ... we will also hunt down and eliminate Abd Malek al-Houthi in Yemen," Mr Katz said, referring to some of the militant leaders killed by Israel. Mr Trump's administration announced a ceasefire with the Houthis this month, after a campaign of US strikes to halt attacks from Yemen on Red Sea shipping. Israel was not part of the ceasefire deal. Analysts have noted that Mr Trump's Middle East visit highlighted differences between the US and Israel, including in their approach to Syria and Iran. The president did not stop in Israel on his three-country tour. It was left to Mr Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio to reassure Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a call that the US still has a "deep commitment" to their relationship. While in Riyadh, Mr Trump encouraged Saudi Arabia to establish ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords.
