Amid escalating tensions in Middle East, Israel launches air raids on Houthi targets in Yemen

With increasing Israeli attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, there are now more reasons to fear a wider regional conflict as the Israeli military has begun a series of air raids against Houthi targets in Yemen.

Numerous aircraft, including fighter jets, attacked power plants and sea port facilities at the ports of Ras Isa and Hodeidah, according to a statement released by the Israeli military on Sep 29.

According to health officials, the attack claimed the lives of at least four people: three electrical engineers and one port worker.

The locals said that the air raids also knocked out the electricity in most of Hodeidah.

The Houthis claimed to have fired a ballistic missile toward Ben Gurion International Airport, which is close to Tel Aviv, the day before the strike.

The Houthis allied with Iran have launched drones and missiles regularly at Israel and on ships connected to Israel in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, in solidarity with Palestinians facing Israeli attacks in Gaza since Nov 2023.

"Over the past year, the Houthis have been operating under Iran's direction and funding, as well as in cooperation with Iraqi militias, to attack the State of Israel, undermine regional stability, and disrupt global freedom of navigation," the Israeli military statement added.

The Supreme Political Council of the Houthis said on Sep 29 that it will continue to "support the Palestinian people" despite the Israeli strikes.

The council continued, "Israeli aggression will only increase the Yemeni people's determination to continue their stance."

Iran's Foreign Ministry criticized the bombing on Sep 29 that sent massive plumes of smoke skyward.

The ministry's spokesperson Nasser Kanaani called airstrikes "inhumane" and alleged that the US was complicit in Israel's "crimes."

Separately, Hamas referred to the Israeli bombing as "a dangerous escalation," slamming it "in the strongest terms" and expressing "full solidarity" with the Houthi movement and the Yemeni people.

Journalist and political analyst Hussain al-Bukhaiti, of Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, said that firefighters were attempting to put out fires that had started due to the airstrikes.

In July, after a Houthi drone strike breached Israel's air defenses and killed a civilian in Tel Aviv, Israel attacked the Hodeidah port.

The Houthis, who rule over the majority of northern Yemen, claimed to have used a hypersonic missile to reach central Israel earlier this month.

The incident set fire to nearby homes near Ben Gurion airport, setting off air raid sirens and forcing people to flee for their homes.

Furthermore, Israel is still carrying out lethal strikes throughout Lebanon, pushing up to a million people to flee their homes, as indicated by the airstrikes on Sep 29.

The Houthis remembered Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, who was killed on Sep 27, when Israel attacked a heavily populated civilian neighborhood in southern Beirut.

The group has also asked Israel to stop attacking Lebanon.