Air strikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels have fully disabled Yemen's main international airport in the capital Sanaa, Israel's military has said.
"We urge you to immediately evacuate the area of the airport and to warn anyone nearby to distance themselves immediately," IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on social media earlier on Tuesday, attaching a map of Sanaa International Airport.
"Failure to evacuate the area endangers your lives."
The rebel's news channel said the airport had been hit, but gave no information about the extent of the damage or any casualties.
The strikes came a day after a wave of Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen's Red Sea province of Hodeida, killing one person and wounding 35 others, according to the area's Houthi-run health ministry.
The attacks were launched in response for a Houthi missile strike on Israel a day earlier.
On Sunday, the Houthis — who claim they are targeting Israel in support of Palestinians — launched a missile from Yemen that struck an access road near Israel's main airport, Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion, injuring four people.
This is the first time a Houthi missile has come anywhere near Tel Aviv's urban area since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on 7 October 2023. The rockets from Yemen have mostly been intercepted, although some have penetrated Israel’s missile defence systems, causing damage.
The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, are a Shiite Islamist group known for anti-Western and anti-Israel stances. They have managed to wrangle significant parts of Yemen from the country's official government's control over the last decade, including the capital Sanaa.
Houthis to escalate further?
The rebels’ media office said at least six strikes hit the crucial Hodeida port on Monday afternoon, while other strikes hit a cement factory in the Bajil district, located 55 kilometres northeast of Hodeida city. The extent of damage at the two facilities wasn’t immediately clear.
The Israeli military said more than 20 Israeli fighter planes took part in the operation, dropping more than 50 munitions on dozens of targets.
It said that it targeted the Hodeida port because Houthi rebels were using it to receive weapons and military equipment from Iran.
Hodeida residents said they heard explosions at the port, with flames and smoke seen rising over the area and ambulance sirens heard across the city.
The Houthis claimed that Monday's strikes were a joint Israeli-US operation. While a US defence official said US forces did not participate in the Israeli strikes, the US military did launch separate strikes on Sanaa, another official said, who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
Nasruddin Amer, head of the Houthi media office, said the Israeli strikes won’t deter the rebels, vowing they will respond to the attack.
He said the Houthis will escalate their attacks and won’t stop targeting shipping routes and Israel until the military campaign in Gaza is halted.
Israel has struck back multiple times against the rebels in Yemen. The US military under President Donald Trump has launched an intensified campaign of daily airstrikes targeting the Houthis since 15 March.
