JERUSALEM >> Israeli fighter jets bombed sites in Yemen affiliated with the Iran-backed Houthi militia today in retaliation for a deadly drone attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, a day earlier, the Israeli military said. It was the first time Israel has publicly attacked the group in months of escalating violence.

The airstrikes targeted gas and oil depots and a power station that Israel said were used for military purposes in the area of the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, two regional officials said. The port is controlled by the Houthis and contains oil export facilities.

An Israeli military official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity, called the port a major supply route for Iranian weapons from Iran to Yemen. But it is also a vital conduit for humanitarian aid to impoverished Yemen; the official conceded that Israeli forces had struck some “dual-use” targets also used for civilian purposes.

An Israeli military statement said that fighter jets struck targets near the port “in response to the hundreds of attacks” by the Houthis in recent months. The military said it was not tightening its emergency civil defense regulations after the attack, indicating Israeli officials might not expect a more serious escalation.

Nasruddin Amer, a Houthi spokesperson, wrote on social media after the Israeli bombardment that the group would continue to attack Israel in support of the Gaza Strip.

“Yemen’s operations in support of Gaza will not stop,” Amer vowed. “The response to this aggression is inevitable.”

On Friday, the Houthis claimed responsibility for firing a long-range drone that hit the coastal city of Tel Aviv, killing one Israeli and wounding several others. The attack was part of a monthslong Houthi campaign against Israel, during which the Houthis have lobbed hundreds of missiles and drones and menaced ships passing through the Red Sea to try to blockade the Israeli port of Eilat.

Israel is already fighting a war against Hamas on its southern front in Gaza and trading fire incessantly with Hezbollah in Lebanon to the north — two groups also backed by Iran. Israel’s response today to the Houthi attack appeared calibrated not to incite a full-blown war on another front.

In response to the Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, the United States and Britain, alongside their allies, have struck hundreds of Houthi targets in Yemen since November and have been sharing intelligence with Israel for months. But four U.S. officials said Israel acted alone today, with no U.S. military involvement.

There was no immediate reaction from the Biden administration to the strike today. But after the attack in Tel Aviv on Friday, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the Aspen Security Forum that “Israel has the right to defend itself.”

The deadly Houthi drone attack in Tel Aviv — which struck close to a U.S. diplomatic compound — was a rare breach of Israel’s vaunted air defenses. Most of the missiles and drones fired by the Houthis at Israel have been shot down by U.S. and Israeli forces.

Until today, Israel had avoided a full-on attack against the Houthis in Yemen, which is more than 1,000 miles away. But the drone attack in Tel Aviv appeared to tip the scales; by this afternoon, Israeli fighter jets were seen flying in broad daylight toward Yemen.

The Israeli bombardment ignited an enormous fire across the port area, possibly from burning fuel.

Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defense minister, said after the attack that “the fire burning in Hodeidah is seen across the Middle East, and the significance is clear.”

“The Houthis attacked us over 200 times. The first time that they harmed an Israeli citizen, we struck them — and we will do this in any place where it may be required,” Gallant said.

While the attack on Tel Aviv most likely forced Israel’s hand, striking back against the Houthis in Yemen did little to change the continuing battle between the two sides, said Danny Citrinowicz, a former senior Israeli intelligence officer. The only way to end the fighting would be a cease-fire deal in Gaza, he said, and it is unclear how long that will take.

“We can attack Iran’s proxies as much as we want, but without such a cease-fire, we cannot end this war,” Citrinowicz said. “Even this attack will not cut the Gordian knot with which the Houthis have bound themselves to Hamas.”

The Houthis have repeatedly threatened to turn any retaliation against them into a grinding war. Brig. Gen. Abed al-Thawr, a senior Houthi military official, said in an interview Friday night that the group still had “weapons that haven’t been unveiled yet.”

“All Israeli cities have now come under the reach of our targeting,” he added.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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