IAF hits Houthi terror sites across Yemen, including airport in Sanaa

The strikes came during a televised address by Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.

By JNS

The Israeli Air Force conducted strikes on the western coast of and deep inside Yemen on Thursday evening, including Sanaa International Airport in the Houthi-controlled capital, the IDF said.

The targets included the Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations, in addition to terror infrastructure in the Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Kanatib ports.

“These military targets were used by the Houthi terrorist regime to smuggle Iranian weapons into the region and for the entry of senior Iranian officials. This is a further example of the Houthis’ exploitation of civilian infrastructure for military purposes,” the IDF said.

“The Houthi terrorist regime is a central part of the Iranian axis of terror, and their attacks on international shipping vessels and routes continue to destabilize the region and the wider world. … The IDF will not hesitate to operate at any distance against any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens,” added the statement.

The strikes came during a televised address by Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.

“Israel’s deterrence has failed against our country,” al-Houthi reportedly said.

“The Israeli enemy knows that our operations continue, they are effective and influential. Our missiles, which the [Israeli] defense systems did not succeed in intercepting, have caused great frustration in Israel and the U.S.,” he added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday threatened Yemen’s Houthis, speaking at his office in Jerusalem before lighting the menorah on the first night of Chanukah.

“Like then, we are striking at our enemies. … The Houthis will also learn what Hamas, Hezbollah, the Assad regime and others have learned, and this will also take time. This lesson will be learned across the Middle East,” he said.

On Tuesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened to target the Houthi leadership.

“I warned and said that just as we dealt with [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar in Gaza, [Hamas leader Ismail] Haniyeh in Tehran and [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah in Beirut, we will also deal with the heads of the Houthis in Sanaa and everywhere in Yemen,” said Katz.

Hours later, Israel’s Arrow 3 air-defense system intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile. The projectile was downed before crossing into Israeli airspace, but air-raid sirens were triggered across much of central Israel due to the threat of falling shrapnel.

Seven people were injured attempting to reach protected areas in the greater Tel Aviv and Judean Foothills (Shfela) regions, while two people were treated for anxiety, according to the Magen David Adom emergency medical service.

Houthi terrorists have launched over 200 missiles and 170 drones at Israel in support of Hamas since the terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The terrorist group has escalated its attacks in recent days, scoring hits on Israel’s densely populated central region.

Overnight Monday, a woman in her 60s was critically injured when she struck her head while rushing to a shelter in Tel Aviv during sirens triggered by another Houthi missile.

MDA paramedics treated 25 people who were lightly hurt running to shelters or who suffered anxiety attacks.

Earlier on Monday, the IDF shot down a Houthi attack drone before it crossed into Israeli airspace.

Shortly before dawn last Thursday, the warhead from an intercepted missile hit an elementary school in Ramat Gan, collapsing the school’s main building but causing no injuries.

Following a failed interception overnight Friday, a missile hit a playground in a residential area of Jaffa, lightly wounding 16 people.

The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency session on Monday to discuss the escalating Houthi attacks, at Israel’s request.

Muhammad Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Houthi Supreme Political Council that governs parts of Yemen, said on Tuesday that he “does not fear the Jews.”

In 1900, there were about 50,000 Jews in Yemen. Following centuries of discrimination and persecution, Israel’s “Operation Magic Carpet” from 1949 to 1950 brought nearly all remaining Yemenite Jews home.

The last one remaining, Levi Marhabi, has been imprisoned by the Houthis since 2016 for allegedly helping a Jewish family flee with a Torah scroll.

Muhammad Ali al-Houthi continued, “The Yemeni people will continue to support the Gaza Strip, no matter the sacrifices.”

The people of Yemen “do not fear the Jews and do not care about any threats, but rather consider them hollow statements,” he said.