The Israeli military said on Saturday that it struck several Houthi targets in western Yemen following a drone attack from the rebel group in Tel Aviv the previous day.

The Israeli strikes appear to be the first on Yemeni territory since Israel's war on Gaza began in October, and they threaten to open a new front in the region as Iran's proxy against Israel.

The Israeli military stated that a number of “military targets” were struck in the western city of Hodeidah, a Houthi stronghold, adding that its attack was a "response to hundreds of attacks carried out against Israel in recent months."

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement that the Houthis attacked us more than 200 times, but this is the first time an Israeli citizen has been injured, "We hit them, and we will do so anywhere it may be necessary."

The Israeli Defense Forces did not mention the number of sites targeted but told reporters that the port is the main entry point for Iranian weapons. The official did not say whether other allied forces were involved in the operation or confirm if this was Israel's first attack on Yemen.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam posted on X that Yemen was subject to "blatant Israeli aggression" targeting fuel storage facilities and the power station in the province, indicating that the attacks aim to "increase the suffering of the people and pressure Yemen to stop supporting Gaza."

Abdul-Salam said the attacks would not make the people of Yemen and its armed forces more determined to support Gaza, and Mohammed Ali al-Houthi from Yemen's Supreme Political Council wrote on X that "there will be impactful strikes."

An outlet controlled by the Houthi rebels in Yemen reported that the strikes on oil and diesel storage facilities at the port and on the local electricity company resulted in deaths and injuries, with many people suffering from severe burns. It stated that there was a significant fire at the port and power cuts were widespread.

Health officials in Yemen also reported that the strikes killed several people and injured others, but they did not provide details.

A drone attack by the Houthi rebels killed one person in central Tel Aviv and injured at least 10 others near the U.S. Embassy early Friday.

Almost all projectiles launched from the southern Arab country toward Israel were intercepted. Israel said air defenses detected the drone on Friday but there was a "failure" and "no interception" occurred due to the distance of about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) from Israel. Analysts and experts expressed doubts about the Houthis' ability to penetrate Israel's air defense system.

Since January, U.S. and U.K. forces have targeted sites in Yemen in response to Houthi attacks on commercial shipping, which the rebels describe as retaliation for Israel's actions in the war in Gaza. However, many of the targeted ships were not connected to Israel.

The joint airstrikes have not yet done much to deter the Iran-backed force.

Analysts and Western intelligence services have long accused Iran of arming the Houthis, a claim Iran denies, and in recent years, U.S. naval forces have intercepted several ships laden with rifles, bomb-filled missiles, and missile parts heading from Iran to Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen.

Deadly strikes within Gaza

On Saturday as well, at least 13 people were killed in three Israeli airstrikes that hit refugee camps in central Gaza overnight, according to Palestinian health officials, while ceasefire talks in Cairo appeared to be making progress.

Among the dead in the Nusseirat and Bureij refugee camps were three children and one woman, according to Palestinian ambulance teams that transported the bodies to the nearby Martyrs' Hospital. Associated Press journalists counted 13 bodies.

Earlier, a medical team removed a live baby from a Palestinian woman who was killed in an airstrike that hit her home on Thursday. Ola Kurd, 25, was taken by emergency workers to a maternity hospital in northern Gaza in hopes of saving the unborn child. Hours later, doctors told the Associated Press that a baby had been delivered.

Dr. Khalil Dujran said on Friday that the newborn was in stable condition but had suffered from a lack of oxygen and was placed in an incubator.

The war in Gaza, triggered by Hamas's attack on southern Israel on October 7, has killed more than 38,900 people, according to the region's health ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count. The war has created a humanitarian catastrophe in the coastal Palestinian territories, displacing most of its 2.3 million inhabitants and sparking widespread hunger.

The Hamas attack in October killed 1,200 people in Israel, most of whom were civilians, and the militants took around 250 hostages. Nearly 120 are still captive, with about a third believed to be dead, according to Israeli authorities.

Continuing unrest in the West Bank

In the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry reported that a 20-year-old man had died at the hands of Israeli forces late Friday. Commenting on the shooting, the Israeli army stated that its forces opened fire on a group of Palestinians who were throwing rocks at the Israeli forces in the town of Beit Omr.

One witness stated that Ibrahim Zak was not directly involved in the clashes but was standing nearby. Zak said, "They just looked at him and shot him in the head."

Violence has escalated in the West Bank since the war in Gaza began. At least 577 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli fire since then, according to the Ramallah-based health ministry, which tracks Palestinian deaths.

In Cairo, international mediators, including the United States, continue to push Israel and Hamas toward a gradual deal that would halt the fighting and free about 120 hostages in Gaza.

On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel would free Israeli hostages in Gaza, but he added, "We know that anything in the last 10 yards is the hardest."

Fruitless negotiations for a ceasefire between the warring sides have been ongoing since a ceasefire in November for one week, with both Hamas and Israel repeatedly accusing each other of hindering efforts to reach an agreement.