Israel bombs power station and two ports in Houthi-controlled Yemen

By Clauda Tanios and Tala Ramadan

DUBAI (Reuters) - Israeli warplanes bombed a power station and two ports in Houthi-controlled Yemen on Friday in retaliation for Houthi drone and missile strikes against Israel, and pro-Houthi media said at least one person had been killed and nine wounded.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Iran-backed Houthi militia were "paying and will continue to pay a heavy price for their aggression against us".

The strikes hit the Red Sea port of Ras Issa and the major port of Hodeidah and the Hezyaz central power station in Yemen's capital Sanaa, and Harf Sufyan District in Amran province also came under air attack, said Al Masirah TV, the main news outlet run by the Houthis.

An employee at the Ras Issa port was killed and six others were injured, while three people, including a worker, were wounded in the strikes on Hezyaz, the outlet said.

The Israeli military said more than 20 aircraft took part in the attack, dropping around 50 bombs and missiles in an operation which required airborne refuelling during the 2,000-km (1,240-mile) flight.

Earlier, British security firm Ambrey said airstrikes on the Ras Issa port targeted oil storage facilities in the vicinity of shipping berths, though no merchant vessels were reported to have been damaged.

The supply of petroleum derivatives is stable, the Houthi government spokesperson Hashem Sharaf Eddine said after the attack.

An Israeli military statement confirmed the targets, saying the power station served as a "central source of energy for the Houthi terrorist regime in its military activities". It added that the targets struck were examples of the "Houthis' exploitation of civilian infrastructure".

Within the past 48 hours, the Houthis have fired three drones at Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv and more drones and missiles at the U.S. aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said.

The Houthis have targeted Israel, hundreds of kilometres to the north as well as international shipping in waters near Yemen since November 2023 in support of Palestinian militants at war with Israel in Gaza.

Israel has responded with airstrikes in Houthi-held areas of Yemen, as have British and U.S. forces in the region.

Netanyahu said last month Israel was only at the beginning of its campaign against the Houthis.

(Reporting by Tala Ramadan, Clauda Tanios and Mohammed Ghobari and James Mackenzie; Editing by Mark Heinrich, Alison Williams and Timothy Heritage)