Defense Minister Israel Katz was not present at the operation room in the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv during the strike carried out by Israel Air Force jets on Houthi terror targets in Yemen in the early hours of Thursday, Israel’s public broadcaster KAN News reported later in the evening.
Katz arrived at the premises at 9:30 p.m., approved the operation, and left, according to the reports.
Kan cited sources present at the headquarters as saying they had expected the minister to remain on-site during the strike since he himself had dubbed it as “striking strategic targets.”
According to Kan, the minister’s office claimed he had to leave for discussions he held at the Knesset.
Addressing the strike, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “They learn and will learn the hard way that whoever harms Israel pays for it a heavy price.”
IAF strikes Houthi terror targets in Yemen
Early Thursday morning, Israel Air Force jets struck targets belonging to the Houthis in Yemen, which were utilized for military purposes, such as the smuggling of Iranian weapons.
The IAF also targeted energy infrastructure in Sana’a along with various ports.
The military noted that jets flew 2,000 kilometers and used over 60 bombs to strike Houthi targets, which included oil and fuel tanks, eight tugboats, and two power plants.
Source told The Jerusalem Post that the US had been notified of Israel’s intent to carry out the attacks.
According to the IDF, the Houthis have fired over 200 ballistic missiles and over 170 drones at Israel, with most being shot down by the US or Israel but 22 having penetrated Israel.
Shir Perets, Yonah Jeremy Bob and Amichai Stein contributed to this report.
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