Violence escalates as Israel targets Yemen in airstrikes

Raids on Lebanon send death toll soaring as risk of regional war grows

- Peter Beaumont, William Christou, Jason Burke

Israel launched a wave of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen yesterday while continuing to attack Hezbollah in Lebanon, expanding an assault on Iran-backed proxies across the Middle East that risks accelerating a slide towards a devastating regional confl ict on multiple fronts.

The attack in Yemen involved dozens of Israeli planes and appears to have targeted fuel facilities, power plants and docks at the Ras Issa and Hodeidah ports, and is one of the single biggest such operations yet seen in the near year-long crisis in the region.

Israeli military offi cials said the raid had targeted the Houthis, an Iran-backed group that controls most of Yemen. The Houthis have fi red at Israeli targets for months in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. They have also targeted international shipping in the Red Sea.

On Saturday, the Houthis launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel’s main international airport when Benjamin Netanyahu , the Israeli prime minister, was arriving.

The strikes in Yemen and the new wave of attacks in Lebanon came 48 hours after the Israeli operation that killed Hassan Nasrallah , the veteran leader of Hezbollah , in Beirut. Since Nasrallah’s death, Hezbollah, which is also backed by Iran, has said it will continue fi ghting Israel .

A series of salvos were launched from Lebanon yesterday, including one that Hezbollah said targeted Israeli soldiers, and others aimed at built-up areas in northern Israel, according to Israeli officials.