Israel launches airstrikes on Yemen a day after Houthi rebels strike
Israeli airport
[May 06, 2025]
MELANIE LIDMAN
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military targeted Houthi rebels in Yemen’s Red
Sea province of Hodeida on Monday with a punishing round of airstrikes,
killing at least one person and wounding 35. The strikes came a day
after the Iranian-backed rebels launched a missile that hit Israel’s
main airport.
The rebels’ media office said at least six strikes hit the crucial
Hodeida port Monday afternoon. Other strikes hit a cement factory in the
Bajil district, located 55 kilometers (34 miles) northeast of Hodeida
city, the rebels said. The extent of damage at the two facilities wasn’t
immediately clear.
The Israeli military said more than 20 Israeli fighter planes took part
in the operation, dropping more than 50 munitions on dozens of targets.
Hodeida residents said they heard explosions at the port, with flames
and smoke seen rising over the area. Ambulance sirens were also heard
across the city, they said.
“It was very strong,” Ahmed Saleh, who lives close to the port, said of
the explosions.
In Bajil, fires and thick columns of smoke were seen over the cement
factory, which the Houthis said was hit by both U.S. and Israeli
strikes. Ambulances also rushed to the area, said resident Khalid Seif.
The Houthi-run health ministry said at least one person was killed and
35 others were wounded in the Israeli strikes on the factory. It said
rescuers were still searching for missing people.
On Sunday, the Houthis launched a missile from Yemen that struck an
access road near Israel's main airport, briefly halting flights and
commuter traffic. Four people were lightly injured. It was the first
time a missile struck the grounds of Israel’s airport since the start of
the war.
The Houthis claimed that the strikes were a joint Israeli-American
operation. However, a U.S. defense official said U.S. forces did not
participate in the Israeli strikes on Yemen on Monday. The strikes were
not part of Operation Rough Rider, which is the ongoing U.S. military
operation against the Houthis in Yemen to prevent them from targeting
ships in the Red Sea that started March 15. The official spoke on the
condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Separately, the U.S. military launched multiple strikes Monday on Sanaa,
another U.S. official said. That official also spoke on condition of
anonymity to discuss military operations.
Nasruddin Amer, head of the Houthi media office, said the Israeli
strikes won’t deter the rebels, vowing they will respond to the attack.
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“The aggressive Zionist-American raids on civilian facilities will
not affect our military operations against the Zionist enemy
entity,” he said on social media.
He said the Houthis will escalate their attacks and won’t stop
targeting shipping routes and Israel until it stops the war in Gaza.
The Houthis have targeted Israel throughout the war in solidarity
with Palestinians, raising their profile at home and internationally
as the last member of Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance”
capable of launching regular attacks on Israel. The U.S. military
under President Donald Trump has launched an intensified campaign of
daily airstrikes targeting the Houthis since March 15.
Houthi rebels have fired at Israel since the war with Gaza began on
Oct. 7, 2023. The missiles have mostly been intercepted, although
some have penetrated Israel’s missile defense systems, causing
damage. Israel has struck back against the rebels in Yemen.
The Israeli military said it targeted the Hodeida port because
Houthi rebels were using it to receive weapons and military
equipment from Iran. Rebel-held Hodeida, about 145 kilometers (90
miles) southwest of the capital Sanaa, has been key for food
shipments into Yemen as its decade-long war continues.
Israel has struck Yemen, and specifically the port city of Hodeida,
multiple times. It previously struck Hodeida and its oil
infrastructure in July after a Houthi drone attack killed one person
and wounded 10 in Tel Aviv. In September, Israel struck Hodeida
again, killing at least four people after a rebel missile targeted
Israel’s Ben Gurion airport as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was
arriving back to the country. In December, Israeli strikes killed at
least nine people in Hodeida. The Houthis have launched multiple
missiles toward Israel in the past week.
The attack on Ben-Gurion International Airport on Sunday came hours
before Israeli Cabinet ministers voted to expand the war in Gaza,
including to seize the Gaza Strip and to stay in the Palestinian
territory for an unspecified amount of time. While air traffic
resumed after an hour, the attack could lead to cancelations of many
airlines, which had recently resumed flights to Israel.
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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Tara Copp and
Lolita Baldor contributed from Washington.
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