Israel Strikes Yemen After Houthi Attack on Ben-Gurion Airport

The Israeli Air Force said some 20 fighter planes took part in the operation, dropping more than 50 munitions on dozens of targets.

Firefighters work as huge fires erupt at a cement factory in Yemen after the Israeli military said it carried out airstrikes against Hodeidah Port and its vicinity, in Bajil District, Hodeidah Governate, Yemen, on May 5, 2025, Al-Masirah TV/Handout via Reuters

Israel carried out airstrikes against Yemen’s Hodeidah Port on Monday, a day after Iran-aligned Houthi terrorists fired a missile that struck near Israel’s main airport, the Jewish state’s military said.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that it had attacked Houthi targets in Hodeidah and its vicinity.

According to the Houthi-run Al-Masirah news agency, citing the terrorist group’s health ministry, the strikes carried out by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) had “martyred and wounded” a total of 43 people.

That included one person killed and four wounded in the strike on the port, as well as three killed and 35 injured following a strike on a cement factory.

The IDF said in a statement posted to social media platform X: “The strike was conducted in response to the repeated attacks by the Houthis against Israel, during which surface-to-surface missiles and UAVs were launched toward Israeli civilians.

“The terrorist infrastructure sites struck in the Hudaydah Port serve as a central supply source for the Houthis, and is used for the transfer of Iranian weapons.

“The ‘Bajil’ Concrete Plant, east of the city of al-Hudaydah, was also struck, which functions as a significant economic resource and is used for the construction of underground tunnels and terrorist infrastructure for the Houthis.”

The IAF said some 20 fighter planes took part in the operation, dropping more than 50 munitions on dozens of targets.

The full extent of the damage at the port is as yet unknown, but images showed huge fires at the cement factory with firefighters working to control the blaze.

The strikes occurred as two ships were unloading their cargo, with traffic at the port at a complete standstill, a worker at the port told Reuters.

The port is the second-largest in the Red Sea after Aden and is the entry point for about 80 percent of food imports to Yemen.

More than 10 strikes targeted Hodeidah Port and the Al Salakhanah and Al Hawak neighbourhoods in the city of Hodeidah, five residents told Reuters.

Four strikes also targeted a cement factory east of Hodeidah.

On Tuesday, the IDF also fired upon Yemen’s main airport in the capital, Sanaa.

In a post on X, the Israeli military said Sanaa International Airport served as a “central hub for the Houthi terrorist regime to transfer weapons and operatives” showing “the Houthi terrorist regime’s brutal exploitation of civilian infrastructure.”

“Furthermore, several central power plants were struck in, and surrounding, the Sana’a area. These plants were exploited by the Houthi regime for energy infrastructure and for the construction of underground tunnels,” the post said, adding that the strikes were carried out with “precision” and that steps had been taken to “mitigate harm to civilians.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised to retaliate for Sunday’s missile attack on Ben Gurion Airport. It was the first time a Houthi projectile is known to have escaped interception by Israel’s air defenses since the Houthis resumed attacks in March.

The Israeli military concluded an assessment and said that there had been a technical issue with the interceptor that was launched toward the missile, while the nation’s ambulance service said eight people were taken to the hospital for mild to moderate injuries resulting from the strike.

In a statement Monday reported by Yemen’s state news agency Saba, Houthi spokesman Hashem Sharafuddin said that the “targeting of a port and cement factory in Yemen broadens the range of targets” for the terrorist group within Israel.

The Yemeni group resumed its attacks on Israel and shipping lanes following a brief suspension after the cease-fire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza ended.

The Houthis, who control Yemen, have been firing at Israel and shipping in the Red Sea since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in what they say is solidarity with the Palestinians. Israel has in turn struck against them in Yemen.

They are a self-described arm of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” capable of launching regular attacks on Israel.

The U.S. military under U.S. President Donald Trump has also launched an intensified campaign of airstrikes targeting the Houthis since March 15.

Earlier on Monday, the Israeli government approved a plan that may include seizing the Gaza Strip and controlling aid into the enclave.

IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said on May 4 that the military has already begun issuing tens of thousands of call-up orders for its reserve forces, looking to grow the campaign.