The United States launched airstrikes against Houthi positions in the Yemeni capital Sana'a on Saturday, hours after the Iran-backed rebels fired a missile hitting a civilian area in Israel.
US CENTCOM forces conducted "precision airstrikes against a missile storage facility and a command-and-control facility operated by Iran-backed Houthis within Houthi-controlled territory in Sana'a," the US military announced in a statement.
CENTCOM said its strikes were aimed at "disrupting and degrading Houthi operations, such as attacks against US Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb, and Gulf of Aden" amid the Houthis' maritime blockade.
Arab media reports say the strikes targeted Al-Hafa military camp and other military assets in Nuqum and Attan districts of Sana'a.
The US Air Force and US Navy assets, including F/A-18s, were involved in the Saturday airstrikes, the CENTCOM said.
Houthi-affiliated media outlets say Britain was also involved in the Saturday airstrikes, the US and UK having launched joint operations since last year's blockade of the Red Sea began by the group, designated terrorists by both nations.
In addition to Saturday’s operation, the US military said it had intercepted multiple Houthi-launched one-way drones and an anti-ship cruise missile over the Red Sea. The precision airstrikes followed a similar operation last week targeting another Houthi command-and-control facility.
The Iran-backed Houthis, who control much of Yemen, launched the blockade in November last year on the orders of Iran's Supreme Leader, following the outbreak of the Gaza war, in allegiance with Iran-backed Hamas.
While they originally set out to target Israeli-linked vessels in a bid to force a ceasefire, it has since spanned global commercial shipping, with multiple vessels hit in strikes and dozens of international seamen taken hostage.
Al-Arabiya reported Saturday that Houthi commanders had left Sana'a and relocated to other areas due to concerns about a potential attack by Israel or the US following an early Saturday attack on Tel Aviv which left at least 16 people injured when the missile fell in a civilian area in Jaffa, a mixed Arab-Jewish city.
The Houthis' strike on Tel Aviv followed Israeli airstrikes on Thursday targeting ports and energy infrastructure in Houthi-controlled Yemen, retaliation for almost daily firing from Yemen with hundreds of projectiles fired since the Gaza war began.
Before Thursday's Israeli strikes, a Houthi missile partially intercepted outside Israeli airspace crashed into an empty school building in Ramat Gan, north of Tel Aviv, causing significant damage.
