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Israeli warplanes have bombed targets across Yemen for the second time in a week, including an international airport, energy facilities and ports, marking an escalation of strikes in response to recent missile attacks by Iran-backed Houthi militants.
The Israeli military said on Thursday that it had carried out “intelligence-based strikes” on targets used by the Houthis for “military activities” as well as entry points into Yemen used by Iranian officials and arms smugglers.
Among the sites bombed were Sanaa International Airport, two power plants and three ports on the country's western coast, including Hodeidah.
At least four people were killed and 16 others were injured during the strikes, according to local media reports from Yemen, although the extent of damage to various facilities remains unclear.
A humanitarian delegation led by World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was present at Sanaa airport during the attacks.
According to a statement from Tedros, one of the delegation's air crew members was infected, although he said UN and WHO officials were “safe.”
He added: “We will need to wait until the damage to the airport is repaired before we can leave.”
According to Israeli media reports, about twenty fighter planes participated in the daytime raid, which is the fourth attack of its kind launched by Israel on Yemen since last summer. The second in as many weeksThis is after the Houthis recently intensified their missile attacks on the Jewish state.
He added: “We are determined to cut off this terrorist arm of the Iranian axis of evil. “We will continue to do so until we complete the mission,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.
At least five ballistic missiles have been fired into central Israel over the past 10 days, including early Christmas morning, sending millions of residents fleeing to shelters.
On two occasions, Israeli air defenses failed to completely intercept incoming missiles, as one fell on a school and the other on a playground in the Tel Aviv area, resulting in 16 people being slightly injured.
The Houthis, who control northern Yemen and the capital, began firing on commercial ships in the Red Sea and launching hundreds of armed drones and missiles at Israel after the Gaza-based Hamas movement attacked on October 7, 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with the Houthis. Palestinians. Their attacks severely disrupted shipping along one of the world's most important maritime trade routes.
The Houthis, along with Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah militants, and Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria, formed the Iranian-led “axis of resistance,” whose capabilities have been severely degraded by Israel in recent months.
A naval task force, led by US and British forces, attempted to protect commercial ships in the area. During the past week, the same coalition aircraft launched air strikes on what the US military described as the Houthis' “command and control” centers in Sana'a.
The militant leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, was giving his weekly televised speech when the bombings began.
Israel Katz, Israel's defense minister, on Thursday vowed again to “go after” the Houthi leadership and “decapitate” the group as he said Israel did with Hamas and Hezbollah.
However, Houthi officials promised to continue their attacks on Israel and international shipping as long as the war in Gaza continued.
