Israeli Navy carries out Yemen strikes for 1st time, targeting Houthi port
Likely the farthest-ever confirmed offensive action by Israeli missile boats, 1,800 km away; previous strikes carried out by air force; missile fired from Yemen at Israel falls short
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
In a first, Israeli Navy missile boats on Tuesday morning launched strikes against infrastructure at the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeida in western Yemen, the military said in a statement.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The Israel Defense Forces said the strikes from the sea came in response to recent Houthi ballistic missile and drone attacks on Israel, the latest carried out on Monday night.
The strikes on Tuesday likely marked the farthest-ever confirmed offensive action carried out by Israeli Navy missile boats. Hodeida is located some 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) from Israel. Military officials described the attack as “unprecedented.”
The Navy’s advanced Sa’ar 6-class corvettes were involved in the mission, during which two long-range guided missiles were fired at the port from hundreds of kilometers away, according to the military.
It marked the eleventh Israeli strike on the Houthis since the start of the conflict, with the previous 10 all having been carried out by the Israeli Air Force.
Military officials said that Navy vessels are used for certain strikes instead of the traditional fighter jets or drones, due to their constant availability at sea and because the attacks can be launched more discreetly.
There was no immediate comment from the Houthis on the strike. No footage was issued from the attack either, including by Houthi-run media or the Israeli military.
Since the last Israeli airstrikes on the Houthis in Yemen on May 28, the Iran-backed group has fired seven ballistic missiles and at least one drone at Israel. A missile fired Monday night fell short before reaching Israel.
In its statement, the IDF said the strike Tuesday morning “was intended to deepen the damage to the military use of the port, which has been targeted by the IDF over the past year and continues to be used for terror activity.”
The port was used by the Houthis to “transfer weapons and serves as yet another example of the Houthi terror regime’s cynical exploitation of civilian infrastructure to advance terror operations,” the IDF said.
The Houthi-controlled Hodeida port has been struck several times by the IDF in the past year, and the military said Tuesday that the repeated attacks were intended to cause merchants to “understand that this is a combat zone and reduce their transfers there.”
On Monday, the IDF issued an evacuation warning for the port, along with the nearby Ras Isa and Salif ports. The latter two were not targeted on Tuesday.
#عاجل تحذير لكل المتواجدين في الموانئ البحرية التي يسيطر عليها النظام الحوثي الإرهابي
⭕️ميناء رأس عيسى
⭕️ميناء الحديدة
⭕️ميناء الصليف????أمامكم تحذير هام وعاجل????
نظرًا لقيام النظام الحوثي الإرهابي باستخدام الموانئ البحرية لصالح أنشطته الإرهابية نحث جميع المتواجدين في هذه الموانئ… pic.twitter.com/8Yjo0HA4Dt
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) June 9, 2025
Following the strike, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned the Iran-backed group against continuing its attacks on Israel.
“We have warned the Houthi terror organization that if they continue to shoot at Israel, they will face a powerful response and be under a naval and aerial blockade,” Katz said.
“This is what we did today, and we will continue to do so in the future,” he added.
The Houthis — whose slogan calls for “Death to America, Death to Israel, [and] a Curse on the Jews” — began attacking Israel and general maritime traffic in November 2023, a month after the October 7 Hamas massacre.
They held their fire when a ceasefire was reached between Israel and Hamas in January 2025.
By that point, they had fired over 40 ballistic missiles and dozens of attack drones and cruise missiles at Israel, including one that killed a civilian and wounded several others in Tel Aviv in July, prompting Israel’s first strike in Yemen.
Since March 18, when the IDF resumed its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen have launched 47 ballistic missiles and at least 11 drones at Israel. Several of the missiles have fallen short.
The Times of Israel Community.