SANAA, Yemen – Yemen’s Huthi rebels on Thursday claimed a missile attack against Israel that was intercepted and prompted Israeli strikes on key infrastructure in Yemen including ports and energy facilities.
The Iran-backed fighters, who control most of Yemen’s population centres, have repeatedly launched missile attacks against Israel since the war in Gaza began more than a year ago.
In related developments, Human Rights Watch on Thursday accused Israel of committing “acts of genocide” in the Gaza Strip by damaging water infrastructure and cutting off supplies to civilian s, which Israel dismissed as “appalling lies.”
In a new report, which focused specifically on water, the New York-based rights group detailed what it said were deliberate efforts by Israeli authorities “of a systematic nature” to deprive Gazans of water, which had “likely caused thousands of deaths… and will likely continue to cause deaths”.
The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
The Huthis belong to the so-called “axis of resistance,” along with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which has been weakened after a conflict with Israel and the loss of its Syrian supply line following former president Bashar al-Assad’s ouster.
Huthi spokesman Yahya Saree said the rebels had targeted “two specific and sensitive military targets… in the occupied Yaffa area”, referring to the Jaffa region near Tel Aviv, with “hypersonic ballistic missiles.”
Israel’s military had earlier announced the interception of a missile launched from Yemen “before it crossed into Israeli territory.”
The launch, as well as the interception, prompted sirens to sound across the parts of the country.
In the following hours, Israel launched a series of air strikes across Yemen’s western coast that Huthi media said struck power stations, oil facilities and a port in Hodaidah, killing nine people and injuring others.
Iran denounced the raids as a “flagrant violation of the principles and norms of international law and the UN Charter.”
Palestinian militant group Hamas, also an ally of the Huthis, called Israel’s retaliatory strikes a “dangerous development”.
Israel’s military said it “conducted precise strikes on Huthi military targets in Yemen — including ports and energy infrastructure in Sanaa, which the Huthis have been using in ways that effectively contributed to their military actions.”
“I warn the leaders of the Huthi terrorist organisation: Israel’s long arm will reach you too,” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said.
Al-Masira, a media channel belonging to the Huthis, said a series of “aggressive raids” were launched in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa and the port city of Hodeidah.
It reported raids that “targeted two central power plants” in and around Yemen’s capital Sanaa, while in Hodeidah it said “the enemy launched four aggressive raids targeting the port… and two raids targeting” an oil facility.
It said strikes on the Al-Saleef port had killed seven people, while two more were killed and other injured in the strike on the oil facility.
Thursday’s missile interception was the second this week, after a launch from Yemen was intercepted by Israel’s military on Monday.
That launch was also claimed by the Huthis, who said it was aimed at “a military target of the Israeli enemy in the occupied area of Yaffa.”
Also Monday, an Israeli navy missile boat intercepted a drone in the Mediterranean after it was launched from Yemen, the military said.
The Huthi rebels have said they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians and pledged Monday to continue operations “until the aggression on Gaza stops and the siege is lifted”.
On Dec. 9, a drone claimed by Huthis exploded on the top floor of a residential building in the central Israel city of Yavne, causing no casualties.
In July, a Huthi drone attack in Tel Aviv killed an Israeli civilian, prompting retaliatory strikes on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah.
The Huthis have also regularly targeted shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, leading to retaliatory strikes on Huthi targets by United States and sometimes British forces.
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the group had become a “global threat,” pointing to Iran’s support for the rebels.
“We will continue to act against anyone, anyone in the Middle East, that threatens the state of Israel,” he said.
