The strikes were in response to previous Houthi missile and drone attacks on Israel, which have escalated in recent weeks.
The Israeli army said it launched airstrikes Thursday against Houthi targets in Yemen, including the capital Sanaa’s airport, in response to the Iran-backed group’s continued missile and drone attacks on Israel, which have escalated in recent weeks.
The World Health Organisation’s Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media platform X that he was at the airport at the time of the strike, noting that one of the UN plane’s crew was wounded.
In a statement, the IDF said Israeli jets attacked targets along the Middle Eastern country’s western coast as well as further inland.
Israel said it was targeting “infrastructure used by the Houthi terror regime for its military activities” at Sanaa International Airport, two major power plants and infrastructure at the Hodeida, Salif and Ras Kanatib ports.
“These infrastructures were used by the Houthi terror regime to transfer Iranian weapons to the region and for the entry of senior Iranian officials,” IDF said in a statement.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt Gen Herzi Halevi approved the strikes, the Israeli military added.
The Israeli strikes came after a missile launched from Yemen triggered air raid sirens across central Israel early Wednesday, sending millions of residents looking for cover for the second night in a row.
The military said the missile was intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory, but police reported shrapnel from the interception fell in several towns. There were no reports of injuries.
It was the fourth time in a week that fire from Yemen’s Houthi rebels set off sirens in Israel. On Saturday, 16 people were injured when a missile hit a playground in Tel Aviv after Israel’s air defence system failed to intercept it.
Earlier last week, Israeli jets struck Yemen’s rebel-held capital and a port city, killing nine. Israel said the strikes were in response to previous Houthi attacks.
On Tuesday, Israel’s foreign minister requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to condemn the Houthi attacks as well as the group’s Iranian allies for allegedly providing the rebels with weapons.
Additional sources • AP
