Sanaa: Yemen’s Houthi group said it launched a drone attack against a military target in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv and “successfully achieved its goal.”

“We are ready for a long war with the Israeli enemy,” Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a televised statement aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV on Thursday, adding, “Our operations will not stop until Israeli aggression on Gaza stops.” Israel has not yet commented on the Houthi claim, reports Xinhua news agency.

Earlier in the day, Israel launched a series of airstrikes against Houthi targets in northern Yemen, destroying two major power stations in the capital city, Sanaa, and bombing imported fuel storage in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

The Houthi group said nine people were killed by the Israeli airstrikes at dawn on Hodeidah’s ports of Ras Isa and As-Salif, and three others were injured.

The strikes at dawn dealt a major blow to the Houthi group, which controls much of northern Yemen, as it uses the ports of Ras Isa and As-Salif to import fuel and cooking gas and sell them to the residents in the areas under their control.

Israeli Defense Forces Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on the social media platform X that the Israeli army had conducted “precise strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen,” which came after the Houthis launched a long-range rocket at Tel Aviv on Wednesday night.

The Houthi group has been controlling much of northern Yemen since late 2014, forcing the internationally recognised Yemeni government out of Sanaa.

Since November 2023, the Houthi group has been carrying out rocket and drone attacks against Israeli cities and disrupted “Israeli-linked” shipping in the Red Sea, allegedly to show solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza amid their ongoing conflict with Israelis.