Israel, US, UK launch 1st joint attack on Houthi targets in Yemen

SANAA, Yemen

Israel, the US, and Britain on Friday carried out their first coordinated attack on Houthi targets in Yemen, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah TV also reported that a series of airstrikes targeted the vicinity of the Al-Sabeen Square in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

The attack coincided with a rally in support of Palestine amid Israel’s 16-month-old continuing genocidal war on Gaza.

Additionally, the Houthis reported six airstrikes on the port city of Al-Hudaydah in western Yemen.

Al-Masirah later reported: “An American-British assault targeted the Harf Sufyan district in the governorate of Amran with 12 airstrikes.”

The report also said one worker was injured and several homes were damaged in eight US, Israeli, and British airstrikes on the Haziz Central Power Station in Sanaa.

According to the channel, the airstrikes targeted the power station in the Sanhan district of the Sanaa governorate.

Later, a senior Israeli official confirmed to Israeli public broadcasting that Tel Aviv had carried out strikes in Yemen in coordination with Washington.

The Israeli military also said its fighter jets struck “military targets belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime on the western coast and inland Yemen.”

The statement identified the targets as “military infrastructure sites in the Hizaz power station, which serves as a central source of energy for the Houthi regime in its military activities.”

Israel “struck military infrastructure in the Al Hudaydah and Ras Isa ports on the western coast,” the statement added.

The escalation came after the Houthis said on Monday that they had attacked the US aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman in the northern Red Sea and claimed missile and drone attacks on targets in southern and central Israel.

The Houthis have targeted Israeli cargo ships or ones linked with Tel Aviv in the Red Sea with missiles and drones in a show of support with the Gaza Strip, where over 46,000 people have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war since October 2023.

Since early 2024, a coalition led by the US has been carrying out airstrikes that it said target Houthi locations in Yemen in response to the group’s Red Sea attacks, with occasional retaliation from the Houthis.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi in Ankara