Israeli strikes targeted Sanaa international airport and other sites controlled by Houthi rebels in Yemen on Thursday, killing at least three people, the insurgents said.
The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was at Sanaa airport during the bombing and said he was “safe and sound” on however, was injured.
Israel confirmed the raids and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned his country would continue to strike the Houthis “until the work is finished”. “We are determined to cut off this terrorist branch from the Iranian axis of evil. »
The Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen including the capital Sanaa, are supported by Iran, Israel’s sworn enemy.
Since the start of the war in Gaza triggered on October 7, 2023 by an unprecedented attack by the Islamist movement Hamas on Israeli soil, the Houthis have launched numerous attacks against Israel, in “solidarity” with the Palestinians.
The Israeli army carried out numerous strikes against these rebels in response.
On Thursday, Sanaa airport was the target of “more than six” strikes, a witness told AFP. The nearby al-Dailami airbase was also targeted.
Since 2022, only the Yemeni national airline Yemenia has provided a limited commercial connection from Sanaa airport, with Amman as the main destination. Between 2016 and 2022, it only hosted humanitarian flights operated by the UN.
“We will hunt them down”

A fire truck heads towards the Ras Kutaib power plant in Hodeida after it was hit by Israeli strikes, photo released on December 26, 2024 by the Houthi media center / – / ANSARULLAH MEDIA CENTER/AFP
In the Hodeida region, in the west of the country, a power plant was also hit by the strikes, according to a witness and a rebel statement.
Two people died and 11 were injured at Sanaa airport, and a third was killed at the Ras Issa port north of Hodeida, the Houthis said on their Telegram channel.
These strikes constitute “a Zionist crime against the entire Yemeni people”said Mohammed Abdelsalam, a Houthi spokesperson.
The Israeli army said it had struck “military targets” rebels, whom she accused of being “at the heart of the Iranian axis of terror”.
“Targets hit include military infrastructure used by the Houthis at Sanaa International Airport and the Hezyaz and Ras Katanib power plants”she added. “Military infrastructure in the ports of Hodeida, Salif and Ras Katanib, on the west coast”were also targeted.
The army claimed to have responded to “repeated attacks” des Houthis “against the State of Israel and its citizens”.
“We will hunt down all the Houthi leaders, hit them like we did elsewhere. No one will be able to escape us”threatened Defense Minister Israel Katz.
“Hit with force”
The rebels, who control large parts of Yemen, also attack ships linked according to them to Israel, the United States or the United Kingdom, in the Red Sea and in the Gulf of Aden, despite retaliatory strikes on their territory also carried out by the American army.
They are part of what Iran calls the“axis of resistance” facing Israel, which also includes Hamas, Iraqi groups and Lebanese Hezbollah.
Iran condemned the Israeli strikes, as did Hamas.
The raids come a day after the Houthis claimed responsibility for firing a ballistic missile and two drones against Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a ceremony to reopen the Paraguayan embassy in Jerusalem, December 12, 2024 / GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP
On Monday, Benjamin Netanyahu said he had asked the army to “destroy infrastructure” rebels, whose missile had injured 16 people two days earlier in Tel Aviv, in central Israel.
“Whoever strikes Israel will pay a very high price”he warned last week.
Most Houthi attacks against Israel were countered or caused only material damage. But in July, an Israeli civilian was killed in Tel Aviv by the explosion of a drone fired from Yemen. Israel also responded with deadly strikes on Hodeida.
The Houthis took control of the Yemeni capital in 2014 after a lightning offensive, sparking a bloody conflict with the internationally recognized government.
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