JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen early Sunday, hours after Israeli warplanes struck several Houthi targets in the Arabian Peninsula country.

The Israeli airstrikes — in response to a deadly Houthi drone strike on Tel Aviv — were the first time Israel is known to have responded to repeated Houthi attacks throughout its nine-month war against Hamas. The burst of violence between the distant enemies has threatened to open a new front as Israel battles a series of Iranian proxies across the region.

The Israeli army late Saturday confirmed the airstrikes in the western Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, a Houthi stronghold and crucial entry point for aid and other supplies. It said the strikes, carried out by dozens of aircraft, including U.S.-made F-15 and F-35 warplanes, were a response to hundreds of Houthi attacks.

The Health Ministry in Yemen said the Israeli strikes killed six people and wounded 83 others, many with severe burns from a major fire. Another three people were missing, the ministry said in a statement shared by the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam posted on X that the “blatant Israeli aggression” targeted fuel storage facilities and the province’s power station.

”The Israeli enemy picked those targets specifically as part of their targeting of the Yemeni economy,” said Abdul-Malek al-Houthi, leader of the rebels.

The Israeli military said that the surface-to-surface missile fired Sunday was intercepted before reaching Israeli territory.

Israel, along with the U.S., the U.K. and other Western allies with forces in the region, have intercepted almost all of the Houthi missiles and drones. But early Friday, a Houthi drone penetrated Israel’s air defenses and crashed into Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial and cultural capital, killing one person.

An Israeli air force official said Sunday that human error accidentally classified the drone as a non-threat as Israel was simultaneously tracking other drones launched from Yemen and approaching Israel from the east.

The Israeli military said Saturday's strike on Hodeidah, about 1,700 kilometers (more than 1,000 miles) from Israel, was among the most complicated and longest-distance operations by its air force. It said it hit the port because the area is used to deliver Iranian arms to Yemen.

Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, vowed to carry out similar strikes “in any place where it may be required.”

The Houthis are among several Iranian-backed groups to have attacked Israel in solidarity with Hamas since the Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian militant group triggered the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza.