Israel Bombs Yemeni Port City After Houthi Missile Struck Near Tel Aviv Airport

On Sunday, a Houthi ballistic missile evaded Israel’s multilayered aerial defenses and landed near Ben-Gurion International Airport.

Israeli fighter jets flew over 1,000 miles to strike the port city of Hudaydah in western Yemen on Monday, after the Houthi militia fired a ballistic missile that landed near Israel’s main international airport this weekend.

At least one person was killed and more than 30 were injured at one of the targeted sites, a cement factory east of Hudaydah, according to the Houthi-run health ministry.

The Israeli strike was the latest tit-for-tat volley between Israel and the Houthis, the Iranian-backed armed group that controls much of northwestern Yemen. For more than a year, the Houthis have been shooting missiles and drones at Israel, in what they call a solidarity campaign with Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel, the United States and Britain, alongside other countries, have repeatedly bombarded the militia in an attempt to compel it to cease its attacks. The Houthis have also attacked and menaced ships, both commercial and military, traversing the Red Sea as part of an attempt to blockade Israel, even though many of the vessels had no clear connection to Israel

On Sunday morning, a Houthi ballistic missile evaded Israel’s multilayered aerial defenses before striking near Ben-Gurion International Airport, which lies slightly outside the coastal city of Tel Aviv. Israeli leaders quickly vowed to respond with force to the attack, in which at least six people were injured.

On Monday evening, the Israeli military began bombing targets in Hudaydah, with planes striking the port — which the military said served as “a main source of income for the Houthi regime” — as well as the concrete factory. The port is the main conduit for food imports, fuel and aid to enter impoverished northern Yemen, where more than 20 million people live.

Jaber Mohammad, who lives about a mile away from the port, said he had heard four explosions and could still hear ambulance sirens racing to the site more than an hour after the initial explosion.

“Our infrastructure is extremely fragile; it should be left alone,” said Mr. Mohammad, 40. “They are targeting civilian facilities that have no military value. It’s clear the real target is the ordinary citizen.”

Despite months of retaliatory airstrikes and ballistic missile attacks, both Israel and the Houthis have not achieved their stated goals. The Houthis have pledged to continue firing on Israel until the end of the Israeli campaign against Hamas in Gaza, which Israel appears poised to escalate.

Some Israeli military analysts have argued that the options in subduing the country’s distant enemy are limited, even with international backing.

President Trump has ramped up the U.S. military campaign against the Houthis, which began under the Biden administration. Mr. Trump has vowed that the group will be “completely annihilated,” and has tightened U.S. sanctions against the Houthis. He also re-designated the group as a “foreign terrorist organization.”

U.S. officials have published little information on recent American operations against the Houthis. But Houthi officials have said that the U.S. strikes have killed a large number of people. The tolls could not be independently verified, as the Houthis hold a tight grip on the flow of information out of areas under their sway.

In April, an American strike targeted the port of Ras Isa, another major fuel depot in Hudaydah, killing at least 74 people and wounding more than 150 others, said Anees al-Asbahi, a spokesman for the Houthi-run health ministry. He identified many as port workers.