Oil tanks burn at the port in Hodeidah on Saturday. AP CNN —  For the first time, Israel has struck inside Yemen, following a deadly drone attack launched by Houthi rebels on Tel Aviv. Since the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, the Houthis have been targeting shipping in the Red Sea in solidarity – they say – with Gaza. After Israel struck back on Saturday, the Houthis said they launched a fresh barrage of missiles towards Israel, promising a response that will be “huge and great.” Direct attacks on each other’s soil between the Israeli military and the Iran-backed rebel group now risk creating a new front in a conflict that already threatened to spill over into the region, with Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam on Sunday describing the situation as “open war.” Here’s what we know. Who are the Houthis and what is their role in the Gaza conflict? The Houthis are an Iran-backed Islamist group based in Yemen. The Houthi movement, also known as Ansar Allah (Supporters of God), is one side in a civil war that has raged in Yemen for nearly a decade. It emerged in the 1990s, when its leader, Hussein al-Houthi, launched “Believing Youth,” a religious revival movement for a centuries-old subsect of Shia Islam called Zaidism. Since a ceasefire, the Houthis have consolidated their control over most of northern Yemen. They have also sought an agreement with Saudi Arabia, a major rival of Iran, that would bring the war to a permanent end and cement their role as the country’s rulers. Houthi military academy cadets demonstrate in solidarity with the Palestinian people on June 14 in Sana’a, Yemen. Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images The Houthis are believed to have been armed and trained by Iran. Since Hamas’s attacks on October 7 attacks and Israel’s subsequent ground and air offenses in Gaza, the Houthis say they have been seeking revenge against Israel for its military campaign by targeting Red Sea shipping. The US and UK have responded to those attacks by carrying out strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. However, Israel has not taken part in those responses. In addition, Israel’s army spokesman says the militant group has targeted “Israeli civilians and civilian infrastructure” about 200 times in the same period. Most of those launches were intercepted by US Central Command, the spokesman said, but Israel’s air defenses have also intercepted Houthi drones and missiles inside and outside Israel’s airspace. What happened in Tel Aviv? A tipping point for Israel appears to have come on Friday, when a drone attack was launched on Tel Aviv, killing one Israeli citizen and injuring several others. The attack was claimed by the Houthis, with spokesperson Yahya Sare’e saying the operation was performed by a new drone capable of “bypassing the enemy’s interception systems.” “We will continue to strike these targets in response to the enemy’s massacres and daily crimes against our brothers in the Gaza Strip,” Sare’e said. “Our operations will only cease when the aggression stops and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted.” Israeli police investigate after a drone attack in Tel Aviv on Friday, which Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for. Oded Balilty/AP The attack marked the first time Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial center, has been struck by a drone in an attack claimed by the Houthis. Israel authorities are investigating the circumstances and potential security failures around the deadly drone blast. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari said that the military suspects the drone was an Iranian-made Samad-3 model, launched from Yemen, which had been upgraded to extend its range. A second drone was intercepted outside of Israeli airspace to the east at the same time as the attack, he said, adding that Israel is now upgrading its air defenses and increasing aerial patrols of its borders. How did Israel respond? Israel’s response came a day later, when Israeli aircraft hit the Yemeni port of Hodeidah. The attack, which marked the first time Israel has struck Yemen, killed at least six people and injured scores more, Yemeni officials said. The Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said the strikes targeted oil facilities in the port on Yemen’s west coast. Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam said the strikes had also hit civilian targets and a power station. He slammed what he said was “brutal Israeli aggression” aimed at increasing the “suffering of the people of Yemen” and pressuring the group to stop its support of Gaza. Houthi military spokesman Yehya Saree speaks at a rally against Israel and the US on Friday. Osamah Abdulrahman/AP Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the port was used by Iran to bring arms into Yemen. “The port we attacked is not an innocent port. It was used for military purposes, it was used as an entry point for deadly weapons supplied to the Houthis by Iran,” he said in a statement on Saturday. Netanyahu also said the operation, which hit targets 1,800 km (1,118 miles) from Israel’s borders, showed Israel was serious about responding to threats. “It makes it clear to our enemies that there is no place that the long arm of the State of Israel will not reach,” Netanyahu said. How big an escalation is this? Neither side have suggested they are ready to back down. “It’s not in the Houthi ‘DNA’ to de-escalate with Israel,” Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute wrote on X. Houthi army spokesperson Yehya Saree said the Houthis have “prepared for a long war” with Israel and that Tel Aviv is still not safe. Israel’s Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, warned that the “blood of Israeli citizens has a price,” and that if Israelis are attacked, the “result will be identical” to that which has been seen in Lebanon and Gaza. On Sunday, Israeli military said it had intercepted a missile approaching Israeli territory from Yemen while the Houthis said they launched a “number of ballistic missiles.” The war in Gaza has already been accompanied by significantly heightened tensions between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The two sides have been trading cross-border fire since October 8, when Hezbollah fired at three Israeli border posts “in solidarity”

From CNN’s MJ Lee and Dana Bash President Joe Biden’s high command is projecting a determination to press forward with the president’s reelection campaign, even as Democrats’ public calls on Biden to drop out of the race grow by the day. Those calls were joined Sunday by independent Sen. Joe Manchin, who echoed other lawmakers in encouraging Biden to “pass the torch” to a new generation of leadership. But when the co-chairs of the president’s campaign held a call Saturday, there was no discussion at all of the president leaving the race, sources said. Among those on the call was Rep. Jim Clyburn, who on Sunday told CNN that Democrats need to look for ways to “coalesce” around Biden. Some background: CNN reported Thursday night that senior-most West Wing advisers have not discussed — among themselves or with the president — the possibility of Biden abandoning his candidacy. A senior adviser told CNN that still remained true as of Sunday afternoon. But in interviews with CNN, more than two dozen sources familiar with the dynamics inside the West Wing and campaign said there is now privately widespread acceptance that Biden remaining in the 2024 race is wholly untenable. The president has been isolating at his home in Rehoboth Beach as he recovers from Covid-19. His longtime aide Steve Ricchetti is among the advisers in Delaware this weekend, per a White House official. More from Biden’s team: Biden campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond reiterated Sunday that the president intends to accept the Democratic nomination and see his reelection bid through. “I want to be crystal clear. He’s made a decision, and that decision is to accept the nomination and run for reelection, win reelection. I think there are those out there that need to hear it again that he made a decision. He’s going to be the candidate and he’s going to be the next president and now it is time to focus on the threat that Donald Trump poses and what the extreme agenda is on other side,” Richmond said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” CNN’s Ebony Davis contributed reporting to this post.

Biden announces he will not seek reelection From CNN’s Sam Fossum President Joe Biden announced he will not seek reelection amid continued pressure following a disastrous debate performance last month that left many in his party questioning whether he should continue to seek reelection. He will serve out the remainder of his term. “And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote in a letter he posted on his X account. He added: “I will speak to the Nation later this week in more detail about my decision.” “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” he wrote.