Israeli warplanes pound Houthi port in Yemen following ballistic missile attacks

“The Houthis will pay” – Israel’s defense minister vows IDF will strike Yemen in the same manner it bombed Iran following ballistic missile attacks.

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli warplanes on Monday bombed Houthi military infrastructure in a Yemeni port used by the Shi’ite terror group to receive weapons from Iran, the IDF announced Monday morning.

The strikes came in response to multiple ballistic missile and drone attacks on Israel by Ansar Allah, the radical Shi’ite terror group and rebel force in Yemen that maintains control over the capital city of Sana’a.

Also known as the Houthis, due to the heavy involvement of the Houthi clan, Ansar al-Islam is a client group of Iran, from which it receives the vast majority of its heavy weaponry, including Iranian-made hypersonic ballistic missiles and suicide drones.

Since 2024, Israel has struck Houthi positions in retaliation for missile attacks by the Yemeni terror group. The strikes have centered primarily around ports used to receive weapons and equipment from Iran – along with the Sana’a airport.

Monday’s strikes are the first Israeli attacks on the Houthis since July 7.

According to an IDF spokesperson, Monday’s strikes targeted infrastructure used by the Houthis to receive aid from Iran.

That infrastructure, in the port of Hodeidah, was crippled in previous Israeli strikes but is now being repaired, according to the Israeli military.

“The IDF attacked and destroyed military infrastructure belonging to the Houthi terror regime at the Port of Hodeidah,” the IDF said.

The targets included engineering equipment “involved in restoring port infrastructure” as well as fuel tanks and vessels used for military activity.

“Due to the military use of the Port of Hodeidah by the Houthi terror regime, the port has been targeted several times in the past,” the IDF said. “The port is used, among other things, to transfer weapons from the Iranian regime, which are then used by Houthi forces to carry out terror operations against the State of Israel and its allies.”

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz (Likud) compared the strikes to Israel’s air campaign against Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs last month and Israeli retaliatory strikes against Iran following missile attacks.

“The IDF has just struck terror targets of the Houthi terror regime at the Port of Hodeidah and is forcefully enforcing against any attempt to rebuild previously targeted terror infrastructure,” Katz said.

“As I have made clear – Yemen will be treated like Tehran. The Houthis will pay a heavy price for launching missiles toward the State of Israel. We will continue to act at any time and in any place to protect the State of Israel.”