Sanaa/Jerusalem, July 21 (IANS): Israel's military has confirmed that it bombed sites affiliated with the Houthi militia in Yemen, a day after the military group's explosive drone killed a man in Israel's Tel Aviv.
The Yemeni Houthi military group claimed that the strike targeted oil storage and electric facilities in Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, and several people were either killed or injured, the group's al-Masirah TV reported on Saturday.
The Israeli military said in a statement that its fighter jets targetted "military targets" of the Houthi militia, as a response to "the hundreds of attacks carried out against Israel in recent months" as reported by Xinhua news agency.
The statement came after Houthi top negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam said the Israeli strikes would not stop the military group from targetting "Israeli cities and ships".
Hodeidah residents said a big column of black smoke and fire at the scene could be seen miles away. Fire trucks and ambulances rushed to the scene as the authorities cordoned off the area near the Red Sea, said the residents.
Local health authorities have yet to reveal the exact number of casualties, the Houthi-run TV said.
The alleged strikes came a day after the Houthi group claimed responsibility for a bomb-laden drone attack on a building in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, which according to Israeli media killed one person and injured 10 others.
The Houthis said the Friday drone attack came in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip currently under Israeli offensive. Before that, the Houthis had continued a series of drone and missile attacks against what it called Israeli-linked shipments in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November 2023 in a way to show solidarity with Gaza.
In response, the US-British naval coalition in the waters attacked Houthi targets to deter the group, but only led to Houthi expansion of attacks to include US and British commercial and military ships.
Hodeidah has been under the control of the Houthi group along with several northern cities, including the capital Sanaa, since late 2014, driving the internationally recognised government out to the southern and eastern provinces.