The Israeli army claimed Friday launching airstrikes that targeted what they described as Houthi military sites in western and central Yemen.

In a statement, the Israeli army said they had targeted critical infrastructure, including the Hodeidah and Ras Isa ports along Yemen’s western coastline, as well as the Hizziz power station, which they alleged the Houthis use for military operations.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Friday that the strikes on several targets in Yemen were a "sharp message" to the leaders of the Houthi rebel group, whom he said Israel "will hunt down," AFP reported.

"The Israeli strike today in Yemen sends a clear and sharp message...there will be no immunity for anyone," he said in a video statement, adding that Israel’s reach is long and its response will be relentless for any entity that harms the state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday the army was exacting a "heavy price" on Yemen's Houthis with a series of airstrikes on Yemen, AFP reported.

The Houthis' Al-Masirah TV broadcast footage of smoke rising from the capital city, Sanaa, while showing demonstrators gathered in other parts of the country to protest the Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, mostly children and women.

On Thursday evening, the Israeli army said it intercepted three drones approaching from the east within an hour, including two believed to have been launched from Yemen.

Two of the drones were intercepted over the Mediterranean, the Israeli army said, without providing further details.

Yemeni Houthi rebels have also targeted Israeli shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, prompting military strikes by the United States and, at times, Britain, who have claimed these interventions as efforts to protect the vital waterway from Houthi threats.

The US military on Wednesday claimed its forces hit weapons storage facilities used by Yemen's Houthi group to target American warships and commercial vessels, primarily Israeli shipping.

Al-Masirah TV said there were five raids in the northwestern Amran province and two in Sanaa province, where the capital, Sanaa, is located.

Israel has also struck Houthi targets in Yemen, including in the capital.

On 26 December, multiple Israeli air raids targeted Sanaa International Airport, the adjacent Al-Dailami base, and a power station in the port city of Hodeidah in attacks Al-Masirah TV channel called "Israeli aggression."

The Israeli strikes killed four people at the airport, where World Health Organization Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he narrowly escaped death while waiting for a flight.

At the time, the attacks marked the second time since 19 December that Israel launched direct airstrikes on Yemen in response to rebel missile fire towards Israel in solidarity with Gaza.