Israel hits Yemen port after Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv

JERUSALEM,  Israel 

Israeli fight jets struck Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah on Saturday, a day after a drone launched by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels hit Tel Aviv.

It is being reported that at least three people were killed and 87 wounded in the strikes, which the Israel Defence Force (IDF) said were “military targets”.

A Houthi spokesperson, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, has slammed what he called the “blatant aggression” by Israel and said Yemeni armed forces would retaliate.

He said the attack targeted the power station that supplies electricity, as well as the port and fuel tanks, "all of which are civilian targets”.

A media outlet controlled by Houthi rebels, Al-Masirah TV, said there was a large fire at the port and that power cuts were widespread.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a televised address on Saturday night described Hodeidah as an entry point for weapons from Iran.

“Like Hamas and Hezbollah, the Houthis are an integral part of Iran's axis of evil. This axis works not only against Israel, it threatens the peace of the entire world,” he said.

Netanyahu said his country would defend itself “by all means” and that Saturday’s attack showed Israel’s enemies there was no place it couldn’t reach.

The air strike was the first direct attack on Yemen since Houthi rebels began targeting Israel last year with drones and missiles in response to the war in Gaza.

There are fears that the air strike will open a new front in the region as Israel battles against proxies of Iran, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and scattered militia groups in Syria.