TEL AVIV — Israeli gunboats bombed Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeidah early Tuesday in its first attack by sea on the Houthi-controlled naval facility, sending a thinly veiled warning to neighboring Iran about Israel’s military reach. 

“Israel’s long arm will reach everywhere, by air or sea,” Defense Minister Israel Katz announced in a ministry statement, following the operation conducted some 2,200 kilometers (1,360 miles) from its shores.

The strike followed a 40-minute phone call on Monday between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reportedly focusing on curbing Iran’s nuclear program. “From what I can tell, Netanyahu came away quite pleased from the phone call,” one of his aides told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. Trump, too, described the conversation as “smooth.”

Israel’s previous nine attacks against the Iran-backed rebel forces that have been firing missiles and drones at Israel for the past 18 months were carried out by air. Aided by American and British forces in the region, Israel has intercepted most of the hundreds of missiles and drones fired by the rebels, but warning sirens continue to send millions of Israelis into shelters and disrupt traffic at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport.