Israel strikes military targets of Houthi rebels in Yemen, including Sanaa airport

The Jewish state threatens to “cut off” the “terrorist branch” represented by the Houthi rebels in Yemen, according to Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israeli strikes targeted Sanaa international airport and other sites controlled by Houthi rebels in Yemen on Thursday, December 26, killing at least three people, the insurgents announced. 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 X. A crew member of his plane was, however, injured.

Israel confirmed the raids and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned his country would continue to strike Houthi rebels “until the job is done”. “We are determined to cut off this terrorist branch from the Iranian axis of evil,” he said. The Houthi rebels, who control large swaths of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, are supported by Iran, Israel's sworn enemy.

On Thursday, Sanaa airport was the target of several bombings. The nearby al-Dailami air base was also targeted. Since 2022, only the Yemeni national airline Yemenia has provided a limited commercial connection from Sanaa airport, with Amman (Jordan) as the main destination. Between 2016 and 2022, it only hosted humanitarian flights operated by the UN.

In the Hodeida region, in the west of the country, a power plant was also hit by the strikes, according to a rebel statement. Two people died and 11 others were injured at Sanaa airport, and a third was killed at the port of Ras Issa, north of Hodeida, the Houthi rebels said on their Telegram channel.