US hits targets across Yemen as Israel seeks global coalition to confront Houthis
Strikes come amid repeated attacks by Iran-backed rebels targeting Israel, ships in Red Sea; Houthi spokesman rails at America’s ‘blatant support for Israel’
The US military said Tuesday its forces had hit Houthi targets in Yemen’s capital that the Iran-backed rebels used to attack American warships and commercial vessels.
The attacks began Monday and were carried out by US Navy ships and aircraft that also struck Houthi-controlled coastal regions of Yemen, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
It also said US Navy and Air Force aircraft had destroyed “seven cruise missiles and one-way attack UAVs over the Red Sea,” using an acronym for unmanned aerial drones.
“There were no injuries or damage to US personnel or equipment in either incident,” it said.
One witness in Yemen’s Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa reported several strikes in different locations.
Another reported raids on Sanaa on the defense ministry and having heard a powerful explosion.
Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam called the strikes “an American aggression” and “a blatant violation of the sovereignty of an independent state and a blatant support for Israel.”
The rebels said earlier Tuesday that they had fired two missiles at Israel, hours after the Israeli military said it had intercepted a projectile launched from the country, marking the seventh such nighttime attack in less than two weeks.
The Houthis control much of war-torn Yemen and have been firing missiles and drones at Israel, and at ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians amid the ongoing Gaza war sparked by Hamas’s terror onslaught against Israel in October 2023.
An Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Tuesday that Israel’s solution to the Houthi threat is based on working with an international coalition.
“The Houthis should not be under-rated,” said the official. “They are more technologically advanced than perceived by many. They are ideologically toxic, and they have displayed the will to fight against the Saudis and others.”
“The Houthis pose a threat to international security and global trade,” the official continued. “Therefore, an international coalition should confront and eliminate this threat.”
The official also said Israel has “exposed Iran’s vulnerabilities” and that there is an opportunity now for Israel to work with an international coalition “to put the Houthis in their box.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
