Israel Bombs Yemeni Port City After Houthi Missile Attacks

Israel launched airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Sunday in response to missile attacks over the previous two days.

Israel's military said dozens of aircraft targeted power plants and port facilities in the western city of Hodeidah, according to the Associated Press.

"Over the past year, the Houthis have been operating under the direction and funding of Iran, and in cooperation with Iraqi militias in order to attack the State of Israel, undermine regional stability, and disrupt global freedom of navigation," the military said in a prepared statement.

No casualties were immediately reported.

But Hodeidah residents told Reuters that power was cut to most parts of the city.

A Houthi spokesperson claimed the militants had emptied oil storage tanks in the ports as a precaution ahead of the Israeli airstrikes, AP said, citing a message posted on social media.

Nasruddin Ammer, deputy director of the Houthi media office, also said the bombing wouldn't stop rebel attacks against Israel and international shipping routes near the Horn of Africa.

The Iran-backed Houthis have repeatedly fired missiles and drones at Israel since the October 7 Hamas attacks against Israel that sparked the latest Mideast War.

On Saturday, the Houthis said they launched a missile toward Israel's Ben Gurion airport in hopes of hitting it as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from a trip to New York.

Israel said it intercepted that missile and another fired from Yemen on Friday.

In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, Netanyahu pointed to Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen on a map that was labeled "The Curse," and also highlighted Syria, Iraq and Iran.

Netanyahu, who faces potential prosecution in International Criminal Court over Israel's military conduct in Gaza, said that "the real war criminals are not in Israel."

They're in "Gaza, in Syria, in Lebanon, in Yemen," he said.

Also Friday, an Israeli airstrike in Beirut killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, whose death was mourned by the Houthis in a statement that said "the Jihadist spirit of the Mujahideen brothers in Lebanon and on all fronts of support will grow stronger and bigger," according to Reuters.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Sunday that the military also killed Nabil Kaouk, a high-ranking member of Hezbollah, in another attack on Lebanon.