The Israeli military conducted an air strike at a major airport in Yemen on Tuesday, the second attack on Iran-Iran-coherent Houthi rebels after tensions between the group and Israel surged.
Israel warned people to leave the area near Sanaa International Airport ahead of Tuesday's attack, which targeted Houthi infrastructure and was “completely disabled in the airport”. Witnesses later reported four strikes in the capital.
Tensions have been high since the beginning of the Gaza war, but since Sunday's Houthi missile landed near Israel's Ben Gurion airport, prompting Israel's Israeli air strikes at the port of Hodida in Yemen.
“Not long ago, IDF [Israel Defence Forces] “Fighter jets attacked and demolished Houthi terror infrastructure at the main airport in Sanaa, completely destroying the airport,” the Israeli military said on Tuesday.
“This strike was in response to the attacks launched by the Hotty terrorist regime on Ben Gurion Airport. The runways, planes and infrastructure of the airport were attacked.”
There were no immediate news of any casualties during Tuesday’s strike, after Israel issued a warning to evacuate areas around the airport and release nearby maps.
Three airport sources told Reuters that the strike targeted three civilian planes, a departure hall, an airport runway and a military air base under Houthi control.
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi Politburo, told the pro-Iranian Mayadeen Broadcaster that the movement would repel.
“Our military operations supporting Gaza will continue and will not stop,” he said. “Waiting for Yemen's reaction.”
Netanyahu vows to retaliate
The Ministry of Health operated by Hoti said Israelis attacked four people around Hodida on Monday, wounding 39 people.
The Hodeidah port is the second largest port in the Red Sea after Aden, and is the entry point for about 80% of Yemen's food imports. Five residents told Reuters that more than 10 strikes targeted the port, Al Salakhanah and Al Hawak communities. A cement plant east of Hodeidah also targeted four attacks.
“The attack was in response to repeated attacks on the State of Israel by the Hotti terrorist regime, which launched surface-to-surface missiles and drones on the territory of the country and its citizens,” the Israeli military said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate against Sunday's missile strike, the first time that it had escaped an intercept of Israel's air defense in a series of attacks since March.
Houthi official Abdul Qader Al-Mortada said in an X post that Israel should wait for “unthinkable”.
Officials said the U.S. military did not actively participate.
Houthis, who controls Yemen, has been firing on Israel since the beginning of the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza and transporting it in the Red Sea, and they are talking about solidarity with the Palestinians.
Yemeni group resumed the attack after a brief pause after a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.
A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. military was not actively involved in Monday's strike, but there was general coordination between the two allies.
Meanwhile, an oil company run by Houthis announced that it had begun operating an emergency system that fuels cars due to unloading goods at the oil port of Ras Isa.
In a statement, the company attributed the decision to a U.S. strike against the country, including at the port.
U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a massive strike against Houthis in March. Israeli strikes have killed hundreds of people in Yemen since December, and Israeli strikes have greatly restricted strikes to Yemen.
On Monday, Israel approved a plan that could include unspecified time and aid to control the Palestinian enclave.
According to the Sols, the war in Gaza was killed and 251 were taken hostage after the Israeli attack on Israeli Hamas on October 7, 2023. Gaza health officials said Israel's attack on Gaza killed more than 52,000 Palestinians and destroyed most of the enclaves.
