A bridge crane damaged by Israeli air strikes is pictured in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen, July 31, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Israel stepped up pressure on Yemen’s Houthis on Tuesday, deploying its navy to hit targets in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah and threatening the Iran-backed movement with a naval and air blockade if attacks on Israel persist.

Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said Israel carried out two strikes on the docks of Al Hodeidah port. The Israeli army said in a statement that the navy struck Houthi targets, adding the port is used by the internationally designated terrorist group to transfer weapons.

There were no immediate reports of casualties. Israel has been hitting Houthi targets with air strikes in a military campaign launched after the country severely weakened Iran’s other Middle East partners.

The Israeli military on Monday urged the evacuation of the Houthi-controlled ports of Ras Isa, Hodeidah, and Salif.

“We warned the Houthi terror organization that if they continue to fire toward Israel, they will face a powerful response and will be subjected to a naval and aerial blockade,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on X.

An Israeli military official told Reuters the operation was a unique long-range strike conducted from hundreds of kilometers away and that the navy had been preparing for it for an extended period of time.

The navy was chosen based on operational considerations, the official added.

British maritime security firm Ambrey said there was no reported damage to merchant vessels in the port following the Israeli strikes.

Ambrey also advised vessels to minimize crew movements on deck and bridge manning to a minimum while operating in the vicinity.

Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, the Iran-backed Houthis have fired at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade, in what it says are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians.

Most of the dozens of missiles and drones fired towards Israel have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.

The US also launched intensified strikes against the Houthis this year, before President Donald Trump halted the campaign after the Houthis agreed to stop attacks on American ships.

The Houthis are a resilient force that survived years of Saudi-led bombing in Yemen’s civil war.

Israel has severely hurt other allies of Iran in the region – Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Hamas, both internationally designated terrorist organizations.

The Tehran-backed Houthis and pro-Iranian armed groups in Iraq are still standing.

The group’s leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, created the defiant force challenging world powers from a group of ragtag mountain fighters in sandals.

Under the direction of al-Houthi, the group has grown into an army of tens of thousands of fighters and acquired a huge arsenal of armed drones and ballistic missiles. Saudi Arabia and the West say the arms come from Iran, though Tehran denies this.