After nearly a week of unabated missile and drone attacks by Iran-backed Houthis, Israel conducted retaliatory airstrikes against terrorist targets in Yemen. Israeli fighter jets on Thursday struck several terrorist-linked airports, ports, and power plants controlled by the Yemeni jihadist group.
“Airstrikes targeting an airport in the capital of Yemen — an area under the control of the Houthi jihadists — were carried out by Israel, officials confirmed,” the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported.” The officials added that this round of retaliatory strikes was wider in scope and more lethal than the Israel Air Force’s previous sorties into Yemen.”
Thursday’s airstrikes highlight Israel’s ability to hit Houthi targets across Yemen, Israel’s Air Force chief declared following the operation. “We have just seen a tangible demonstration of what we are capable of, and we are capable of much more,” Commanding Officer of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) Major General Tomer Bar said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged carrying out airstrikes on Houthi terror targets in Yemen. Israeli “fighter jets conducted intelligence-based strikes on military targets belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime on the western coast and inland Yemen,” the IDF said in a statement Thursday. “The Houthi terrorist regime has repeatedly attacked the State of Israel and its citizens, including in UAV and surface-to-surface missile attacks on Israeli territory.”
The IDF admitted targeting Yemeni airports and ports being used by Iran to supply weapons to the Houthi terrorists. “The targets that were struck by the IDF include military infrastructure used by the Houthi terrorist regime for its military activities in both the Sana’a International Airport and the Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations,” the Israeli military added. “In addition, the IDF struck military infrastructure in the Al-Hudaydah, Salif, and Ras Kanatib ports on the western coast.”
The strikes took place while Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi was giving a televised ‘victory’ speech, scoffing at Israel for not hitting back at the terrorist group in Yemen, the Jerusalem Post reported:
The strikes targeted Sana’a International Airport’s main runway, control tower, and aircraft, some of which subsequently caught fire. (…)The IDF confirmed that they had targeted Houthi military infrastructure, the Sana’a International Airport, the Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations, and Al-Hudaydah, Salif, and Ras Kanatib ports on the western coast.The targets were used to smuggle weapons from the Iranian regime into Yemen.Seven strikes were reported in Sana’a and three in Hodeidah, and dozens of aircraft were spotted in the air.The strikes were carried out as Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi was delivering a ‘victory’ speech nearby, local sources said.Al-Houthi was railing against the “failure” of Tel Aviv to challenge Yemen and said Israel had failed to obtain intelligence in the country right before the strikes hit.
Following the airstrikes, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed to ‘hunt down’ the Houthi leadership behind their terror offensive against Israel, The Times of Israel reported:
Following the Israeli airstrikes on Yemen, Defense Minister Israel Katz says Israel will “hunt down” all the leaders of the Houthis.“We saw precise action by the Israeli Air Force, hitting strategic Houthi targets in Yemen, at the airport and at the port,” Katz says in a video from the IAF’s underground command center at the military headquarters in Tel Aviv.“As we said, whoever strikes Israel, we will strike them. We will also hunt down all the Houthi leaders, hit them as we have done elsewhere,” he says. “No one will be able to evade Israel’s long arm.”
Since October 7 massacre, the Houthis fired around 400 missiles and drones at Israel and have been trying to impose a maritime embargo on Israel by attacking and hijacking ships in the Red Sea.
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