Israel strikes range of Houthi targets in Yemen

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Israeli warplanes hit Yemeni targets including an international airport, energy facilities and ports for the second time in a week, marking an escalation in strikes in response to recent missile attacks by Iran-backed Houthi militias.

The Israeli military said on Thursday 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 hits were Sana’a International Airport, two power plants and three ports on the country’s west coast, including Hodeidah.

According to local Yemeni media, at least four people were killed and 16 injured during the strikes, although the extent of damage to various facilities is still unclear.

A humanitarian delegation led by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, was present at Sana’a airport during the attacks.

According to Tedros’ statement, one member of the delegation’s air crew was injured, although he said UN and WHO officials were “safe”.

“We have to wait for the damage to the airport to be repaired before we can leave,” he added.

According to Israeli media, about two dozen fighter jets took part in the daylight attack, which was the fourth such direct attack by Israel on Yemen since last summer and the second in as many weeksafter the Houthis recently stepped up rocket attacks on the Jewish state.

“We are determined to cut off this terrorist wing of Iran’s axis of evil. We will persist until we finish the job,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said 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 rushing to bomb shelters.

Twice, Israeli air defenses failed to fully intercept incoming shells, one of which landed on a school and the other on a playground in the Tel Aviv area, causing 16 minor injuries.

The Houthis, who control Yemen’s north and the capital, began firing on merchant ships in the Red Sea and fired hundreds of armed drones and missiles at Israel after an attack by the Gaza-based Hamas group on October 7, 2023, saying they were acting in a sign of solidarity with the Palestinians. Their attacks severely disrupted shipping on one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes.

Along with Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria, the Houthis formed an Iranian-led “axis of resistance” whose capabilities have been severely downplayed by Israel in recent months.

A naval task force led by US and British forces has sought to protect merchant shipping in the region, with coalition planes themselves carrying out airstrikes on what the US military described as Houthi “command and control” centers in Sana’a.

Militant leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi was giving his weekly televised address when the bombings began.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Thursday again vowed to “hunt down” the Houthi leadership and “decapitate” the group, as he said Israel had done with Hamas and Hezbollah.

However, Houthi officials have vowed to continue their attacks on Israel and international shipping as long as the war in Gaza continues.

Cartography by Stephen Bernard