UPDATE - Casualties in Israeli airstrikes on western Yemen: Houthi-run media

UPDATES WITH ISRAELI STATEMENT, REVISES DECK

By Mohammed Sameai and Said Amori

SANAA, Yemen / JERUSALEM (AA) - There have been several casualties in a series of Israeli airstrikes that targeted western Yemen, the Houthi-run media reported Saturday.

According to the Al-Masirah broadcaster, the airstrikes targeted oil storage facilities in Yemen’s western port city of Al Hudaydah.

The broadcaster also aired images of massive fires which it claimed were erupted following the airstrikes on the city's port.

Several Yemenis sustained severe burns as a result of the airstrikes, according to Al-Masirah.

“The Israeli Air Force attacked targets in the city of Al Hudaydah in Yemen,” the Israeli website Walla quoted an unnamed US official.

For its part, the Israeli army said in a statement that its warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting Houthi positions at Al Hudaydah’s port in Yemen.

“The airstrikes were in response to hundreds of attacks against Israel over the past few months,” it added.

The Houthis have been targeting ships that are Israeli-owned, flagged, operated, or headed to Israeli ports in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones in solidarity with Gaza, which has been under a devastating Israeli onslaught since Oct. 7 last year.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala