Israeli air strikes hit main Yemen airport
Air strikes have been reported in two cities in Yemen.
Witnesses and governing Houthi rebels said the country’s main international airport and a military base were targeted in the capital Sanaa, while a power station in the western port city of Hudaydah was also hit, the AFP news agency reported.
Israel said it carried out the strikes and that its air force had targeted Houthi “military infrastructure”.
Yemen’s Houthi-run broadcaster Al Masirah reported that three people were killed in the strikes, and a further 11 were wounded.
Two of those were reportedly killed at the airport in Sanaa, with the other at the Ras Issa port.
It is unclear whether they were civilians or Houthi rebels.
“[Israeli] fighter jets conducted intelligence-based strikes on military targets belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime on the western coast and inland Yemen,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was in Sanaa airport at the time of the attack.
“As we were about to board our flight from Sanaa, about two hours ago, the airport came under aerial bombardment,” he wrote on X.
“One of our plane’s crew members was injured. At least two people were reported killed at the airport.”
Iran described the strikes as a “clear violation of international peace and security”.
Houthi rebels have been attacking Israel since the first months of the Gaza war, which began in October 2023.
A Houthi missile strike injured more than a dozen people in Israel last week.
Israel has carried out intermittent strikes against Houthis in retaliation.
Earlier this week, Israel’s defence minister said the country was preparing to “strike hard” at the Houthis, warning it would “decapitate” the group’s leadership.
The Houthis are an armed political and religious group backed by Iran. The group has ruled large parts of western Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, since ousting the internationally recognised government in 2015.
