AT least 35 people have been killed after Israel carried out air strikes in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and al-Jawf governorate, a day after targeting Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital, Doha.
Yemen’s Ministry of Health said on Wednesday that 131 people were wounded in Israeli aggression on Sanaa and al-Jawf. It described the figures as a preliminary toll, warning the number could rise as rescue teams continue to search for victims.
The ministry said the raids struck civilian and residential areas, including homes in Sanaa’s al-Tahrir neighbourhood, a medical facility on 60th Street in the southwest of the city, and a government compound in al-Jawf’s capital, al-Hazm.
Civil defence teams are working to extinguish fires caused by the bombardment and pull survivors from the rubble, it added.
According to the Houthi-run Al Masirah TV, the raids targeted a medical facility for the health sector in southwest Sanaa and the local government compound in al-Hazm.
“Martyrs, wounded, and several homes damaged as a result of the Israeli attack on the Moral Guidance Headquarters,” Al Masirah TV posted on Telegram on Wednesday, adding that the attack resulted in casualties.
The extent of any damage was not immediately clear. The Yemen Oil and Gas Corporation said Israeli jets targeted a medical station on al-Sitteen Street in Sanaa.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said that the group used surface-to-air missiles against the Israeli incursion, saying that some Israeli planes were turned back before they were able to discharge their weapons.
“Our air defences were able to launch a number of surface-to-air missiles while confronting the Zionist aggression against our country,” the group said via Telegram. “Some combat formations were forced to leave before carrying out their aggression, and the bulk of the attack was thwarted, thanks be to God.”
In a statement, Israel’s military confirmed the attack, saying it struck sites in Sanaa and al-Jawf.
“A short while ago, the IAF [Israeli Air force] struck military targets belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime in the areas of Sanaa and Al-Jawf in Yemen,” a military statement said.
The statement added that the targets included “military camps in which operatives of the terrorist regime were identified, the Houthis’ military public relations headquarters and a fuel storage facility that was used by the terrorist regime”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that this attack was in response to a Houthi drone strike on Ramon Airport in Israel a few days ago.
“This [attack] did not weaken our hand – we struck them again from the air today, at their terror facilities, at terror bases with a great many terrorists, and also at other facilities”, he said in a post on X.
“We will continue to strike. Anyone who strikes us, anyone who attacks us – we will reach them,” he threatened.
Israel has repeatedly bombed Yemen, including its main airport, killing civilians and damaging infrastructure in the war-torn country. Last month, Israel killed top Yemeni officials, including Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi, in an air strike.
The Houthis have said that they would stop attacking Israel when a ceasefire is agreed in Gaza, which has been turned to ruins by 23 months of relentless Israeli bombardment. More than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched the war in October 2023.