HODEIDA, Yemen — Israel struck Yemen's Huthi-held Hodeida port on Tuesday, saying it targeted infrastructure used by the Iran-backed rebels, who reported a dozen strikes on the area.

 

Israel has stepped up attacks on the Huthis, killing their prime minister and nearly half of his cabinet last month and leaving dozens dead in strikes last week mainly targeting the rebels' military media operation.

 

The rebels' Al-Masirah television said "12 Israeli enemy air strikes targeted the port of Hodeida".

 

Military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group's air defences were "currently confronting Israeli enemy aircraft launching an aggression against our country".

 

The Israeli military said it struck "a military infrastructure site belonging to the Huthi terrorist regime at the Hodeida port in Yemen".

 

It also accused the group of using the port "for the transfer of weapons supplied by the Iranian regime, in order to execute attacks against the State of Israel and its allies".

 

The Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, had warned of the strikes earlier, saying they would be in response to Huthi military activity and urging "everyone in Hodeida port and the vessels anchored there to evacuate".

 

In a statement on X, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned the Huthis would "continue to suffer blows and pay painful prices for any attempt to attack the State of Israel".

 

Since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023, the Huthis have launched repeated drone and missile attacks against Israel claiming solidarity with the Palestinians.

 

In response, Israel has carried out rounds of retaliatory strikes in Yemen, mainly targeting infrastructure such as ports, power stations and the international airport in Sanaa.

 

On Wednesday, Israeli air strikes hit the Huthi armed forces' media operation in Sanaa and other targets in Jawf province, killing 46 people and wounding more than 160, according to the group.

 

In August, Israeli air strikes near Sanaa killed Huthi prime minister Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi, nine ministers and two cabinet officials.

 

The killings were the most high-profile assassinations of Huthi officials during nearly two years of hostilities with Israel over the Gaza war.