JERUSALEM, Jan 10, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Israel struck Huthi targets in Yemen on 
Friday, including a power station and coastal ports, in response to missile 
and drone launches, and warned it would hunt down the group's leaders.

Since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023, the Iran-backed group has 
fired dozens of missiles and drones at Israel in what it says is a show of 
solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Israel's latest strikes came after the military intercepted two drones 
believed to have been launched from Yemen the previous day.

"A short while ago... fighter jets struck military targets belonging to the 
Huthi terrorist regime on the western coast and inland Yemen," the Israeli 
military said in a statement.

It said the strikes were carried out in retaliation for Huthi missile and 
drone launches into Israel.

The statement said the targets included "military infrastructure sites in the 
Hizaz power station, which serves as a central source of energy" for the 
Huthis.

It said it also struck military infrastructure in the ports of Hodeida and 
Ras Issa.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a statement after the strikes, 
said the Huthis were being punished for their repeated attacks on his 
country.

"As we promised, the Huthis are paying, and they will continue to pay, a 
heavy price for their aggression against us," he said, vowing not to tolerate 
attacks against Israel.

"The Huthis are a proxy of Iran and they serve the terrorist objectives of 
the Iranian axis in the Middle East," he said, adding the group posed a 
"danger to Israel" and the region.

- 'No immunity for anyone' -

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel would "hunt down the leaders 
of the Huthi terror organisation".

"The Hodeida port is paralysed, and the Ras Issa port is on fire -- there 
will be no immunity for anyone", he said in a video statement.

Yemen's Al-Masirah television station said the power station was struck eight 
times, wounding one worker and damaging nearby houses.

Yemenis taking part in a weekly protest in Sanaa in support of Palestinians 
heard the strikes, the channel reported.

Al-Masirah said the port of Hodeida, vital for Yemen's imports, was struck 
six times, while the Ras Issa port was struck by "a series of raids".

Huthis said in a statement that over the past 48 hours, they targeted Jaffa, 
the name they use to refer to the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv.

Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, at war with Israel in Gaza since its 
unprecedented attack on October 7, 2023, condemned "in the strongest terms" 
Israel's latest strikes on Yemen.

The Iran-backed Yemeni rebels have also targeted ships in the Red Sea and 
Gulf of Aden, prompting retaliatory strikes by the United States and, on 
occasion, Britain.

Before Friday's raids, Israel had struck Huthi targets in Yemen several 
times, including in the capital.

Since the Gaza war began, the Huthis have launched about 40 surface-to-
surface missiles toward Israel, most of which were intercepted, the Israeli 
army says.

The military has also reported the launch of about 320 drones, with more than 
100 intercepted by Israeli air defences.