Yemenis inspect the damage a few days after an Israeli strike hit the center of the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa on Sept. 13, 2025. (Credit: Mohammed Huwais/AFP)
The Israeli army said Tuesday it struck a military site belonging to the Houthi rebels at the port of Hodeida in Yemen, after calling for an evacuation of the area. "A short while ago, the Israeli [army] struck a military infrastructure belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime in the port of Hodeida, Yemen," the army said in a statement, claiming the port was used by the rebels "for transferring weapons supplied by the Iranian regime, to carry out attacks against the State of Israel and its allies."
Earlier, Houthi rebel media in Yemen reported Israeli strikes on the port of Hodeida, shortly after the Israeli army called for an evacuation. "A series of air strikes by the Israeli enemy on the port of Hodeida," announced the Al-Massirah channel, while the Houthi military spokesperson said the movement's air defenses were "currently responding to the Israeli enemy’s aircraft."
The Israeli army had urged people to evacuate Hodeida port in Yemen, announcing an imminent strike on the area controlled by the Houthi rebels. "In the coming hours, a strike will be carried out ... in response to the military activities of the Houthi terrorist regime. For your safety, we urge all those present in Hodeida port [west] and ships anchored there to evacuate the area immediately," wrote Arabic-language army spokesperson Avichay Adraee on X.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, sparked by an attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the pro-Iranian Houthis have stepped up missile and drone launches toward Israel and attacks on merchant ships linked to it off Yemen, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.
In response, Israel has carried out several deadly strikes in Yemen, targeting ports including Hodeida, power plants and the international airport in Sanaa. On Aug. 28, the head of the Houthi government, Ahmad Ghaleb al-Rahwi, as well as nine ministers and two officials, were killed in an Israeli raid targeting their meeting in Sanaa, the rebel-held capital. On Sept. 10, Israel said it had attacked Houthi "military targets" in Sanaa and the Jawf province (north), resulting in 46 deaths according to the Houthis. The following day, the Israeli army announced it had intercepted a missile fired from Yemen.
The rebels control vast swathes of Yemen, a nation at war since 2014. The internationally recognized Yemeni government, ousted from Sanaa, is based in Aden, the major city in the south.
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