Israel strikes Houthi targets in Yemen.

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Israeli warplanes hit targets in Yemen for a second time, including an international airport, energy facilities and ports, in retaliation for a recent missile attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Israel’s military said on Thursday that Israeli military forces had carried out “intelligence-based strikes” on targets used by the Houthis for “military operations” as well as entry points for Iranian officials and arms traffickers into Yemen.

Among the sites hit were Sana’a International Airport, two power stations and three ports on the country’s western coast, including Hodeidah.

The extent of damage to various institutions is not clear, but according to local media from Yemen, at least four people were killed and 16 injured in the attack.

During the attack, a humanitarian aid mission led by the head of the World Health Organization, Theodore Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was present at Sana’a Airport.

Tedros said in a statement that UN and WHO officials said they were “safe,” but one member of the delegation’s flight was injured.

“Before we leave, we have to wait for the damage to the airport to be repaired,” he said.

According to Israeli media reports, about two dozen fighter jets per day were involved in the attack, the fourth direct attack by Israel in Yemen since last summer. Second in as many weeksAfter the recent Houthi missile attack on the Jewish state.

“We are determined to dismantle this terrorist arm of Iran’s axis of evil. “We will persist until we finish the job,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

At least five ballistic missiles have been fired into central Israel in the past 10 days, forcing millions of residents into bomb shelters, including on Christmas morning.

On two occasions, Israeli air defenses failed to intercept incoming projectiles, one landing on a school and the other on a playground in the Tel Aviv area, causing minor injuries to 16 people. He has delivered.

The Houthis, who control northern Yemen and its capital, began firing on merchant ships in the Red Sea and launching hundreds of armed drones and missiles at Israel after an October 7, 2023 attack by the Gaza-based extremist group Hamas, which the Palestinians say they are working with. Their attacks severely disrupted shipping in the world’s most important sea trade routes.

The Iranian-led “Axis of Resistance,” which includes Hamas, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and the Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria, the Houthis, has been severely damaged by Israel in recent months.

A naval task force led by US and British forces attempted to protect merchant ships in the area. Last week, UN warplanes launched airstrikes on what they themselves called Houthi “command and control” centers in Sanaa.

The militant leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, was giving his weekly televised address when the bombing began.

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed on Thursday to “hunt down” Houthi leaders and “cut off” the group, as it has done against Hamas and Hezbollah.

However, Houthi officials have vowed to continue attacks on Israeli and international ships as long as the war in Gaza continues.

Cartography by Steven Bernard