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00:00Israel's military says its air defense system has intercepted a missile fired
00:04from Yemen before it could enter Israeli airspace over the southern region of
00:09Eilat. The attack comes after Israeli fighter jets carried out airstrikes on
00:14Saturday on the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah in Yemen. Houthi state media
00:19says three people were killed and dozens injured when Israel struck oil storage
00:24facilities and a power plant. It is the first time Israel has responded directly
00:29to what it says have been hundreds of Yemeni drones and missiles aimed at its
00:34territory. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the operation
00:38shows Israel would reach its enemies no matter where they are.
00:44From the beginning of the war I made it clear that Israel would harm anyone who
00:48harms us and so earlier today I convened the political security cabinet. I asked
00:55them to support the decision I brought to attack the Houthi targets in Yemen.
00:59The port we attacked is not an innocent port. It was used for military purposes.
01:05It was used as an entry point for deadly weapons supplied to the Houthis by Iran.
01:11Well let's now speak to, that was Benjamin Netanyahu, let's now speak to
01:15our correspondents in Jerusalem, Barbara Plett Usher. Barbara, this is a very
01:20important turning point, these direct attacks on the Houthis, isn't it?
01:26Yes it is quite significant for its implications in terms of the wider
01:31regional conflict because the Houthis have been firing missiles and drones at
01:39Israel because of the Gaza war in solidarity with the Palestinians they
01:43say and these strikes or these attacks haven't really created any
01:48damage because they've been intercepted most of them but now they hit Tel Aviv
01:51last week and killed somebody and this is why the Israelis have responded with
01:57the first time they've had this direct attack against against Yemen and the
02:03Yemenis have responded by saying or the Houthis have responded by saying we will
02:06meet escalation with escalation so the Israelis have a greater threat on their
02:11northern border from Hezbollah in Lebanon but both of these groups Hezbollah
02:16and the Houthis are backed by Iran so the Israelis see this as a wider
02:19conflict with Iran that's being fought on different fronts and now this front
02:24with the Houthis in Yemen has flared up and created a more dangerous situation.
02:29And the wider context of course is these attacks on ships in the Red Sea in the
02:34Gulf of Aden.
02:38Well when the Houthis started responding to the Gaza war which was shortly after
02:44the Hamas attacks in October they began by targeting the ships in the Red Sea as
02:49you said off the coast of Yemen. They said that they were targeting Israeli
02:54owned or Israeli linked ships although they have hit other ships many other
02:59ships as well including those that are associated with the US and the UK and
03:03those strikes have not created a huge amount of damage although they have sunk
03:08at least two vessels and killed at least three sailors and they as the Americans
03:13and Britain responded with joint strikes against Houthi military assets
03:19within Yemen trying to deplete them of their of their weapons but in fact those
03:24strikes have continued and picked up pace in June and they there they seem to
03:28be getting more sophisticated so the belief is that they are getting more and
03:32better weapons from Iran and this is why the port was chosen as a target by the
03:38Israelis. They said that they the port was a way that the Houthis were getting
03:42shipments of weapons from Iran. And no doubt the Israeli government would have
03:47hoped that by this stage its conflicts with Hamas would be de-escalating but in
03:52fact what we're seeing is rising and dangerous tensions elsewhere. Yes that's
04:00right which brings us back to the point that if there was a ceasefire in Gaza if
04:04the the fighting or the war there would stop or at least pause then the regional
04:10implications would also tone down. Hezbollah for example has said that if
04:14the if Gaza if the fighting in Gaza stops then it will also hold back on its
04:18on its targeting of Israel and there had been increasing hopes in recent weeks
04:23that the two sides were getting close to a ceasefire deal that would involve
04:27several phases but that would involve the release of hostages and at least a
04:32pause in the fighting but there was a big strike on an Israeli excuse me a
04:38Hamas military commander last weekend and since then the Israelis have
04:44continued strikes across the Gaza Strip saying that they are upping the military
04:48pressure against Hamas. Now their argument or the argument of the Netanyahu
04:51government is that this improves the chances for a deal but those who are
04:55negotiating fear that it will make it more difficult. Barbara Petasha joining
04:59us from Jerusalem thank you very much.