Israel’s navy said it struck Houthi targets in Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodeidah on Tuesday, and Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened the Iran-aligned movement with a naval and air blockade if attacks on Israel continue.
Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said Israel targeted the docks of Al Hodeidah port with two strikes.
The Israeli army said in a statement that the navy struck Houthi targets, adding the port is used by the group to transfer weapons.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Israel has been hitting Houthi targets with air strikes in a military campaign launched after the country severely weakened Iran’s other Middle East partners.
The Israeli military on Monday urged the evacuation of the Houthi-controlled ports of Ras Isa, Hodeidah and Salif.
“We warned the Houthi terror organisation that if they continue to fire toward Israel, they will face a powerful response and will be subjected to a naval and aerial blockade”, Katz said in a statement on X.
British maritime security firm Ambrey said there was no reported damage to merchant vessels in the port following the Israeli strikes.
Ambrey also advised vessels to minimise crew movements on deck and bridge manning to a minimum while operating in the vicinity.
Since the start of the Israel’s onslaught on Gaza in October 2023, the Iran-aligned Houthis have fired at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade, in what it says are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones fired towards Israel have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
The Houthis are a resilient force that survived years of Saudi-led bombing in Yemen’s civil war.
Israel has severely hurt other allies of Iran in the region – Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The Tehran-backed Houthis and pro-Iranian armed groups in Iraq are still standing.
The group’s leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, created the defiant force challenging world powers from a group of ragtag mountain fighters in sandals.
Under the direction of al Houthi, the group has grown into an army of tens of thousands of fighters and acquired a huge arsenal of armed drones and ballistic missiles.
Saudi Arabia and the West say the arms come from Iran, though Tehran denies this.
