The Houthis vow to continue attacking Israel despite strikes on Yemen

A Houthi political spokesman says the group will continue to attack Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians despite escalating Israeli airstrikes in Yemen.

Mohammed al-Buhaiti told the BBC the Houthis would “escalate our military targeting of Israel” until it stopped what he described as “genocide in Gaza”.

On Thursday, Israeli warplanes struck the international airport in the Yemeni capital Sana’a and ports and power plants on the Red Sea coast, killing at least four people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that his response to more than a year of rocket and drone attacks by the Iran-backed group is “just beginning”.

Overnight, the Houthis fired another ballistic missile at Israel, which the Israeli military said was intercepted before it reached Israeli territory.

The UN secretary-general said he was “gravely concerned” by the increased escalation.

He also called the strikes on the airport and ports “particularly worrying” and warned they posed a “serious risk to humanitarian operations” in the war-torn country.

The Houthis, who control northwestern Yemen, began attacking Israel and international shipping shortly after the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began in October 2023.

Israel has carried out four rounds of airstrikes against the Houthis since July in response to the 400 rockets and drones the Israeli military says have been fired at the country from Yemen, most of which have been shot down.

The US and UK have also carried out airstrikes in Yemen in response to the group’s attacks on dozens of merchant ships in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Mohammed al-Buhayti, a member of the Houthis’ politburo, told the BBC’s Newshour program on Friday that the Yemenis were now “moving towards direct confrontation” with the US, UK and Israel after fighting what he called their ” tools’ during Yemen’s decade-long civil war. He appeared to be referring to the Saudi-led coalition that stepped in to support Yemen’s government when the Houthis seized control of Sana’a in 2015.

“We are determined to continue our military operation in support of Gaza and we will not stop until the crimes of genocide and the siege of Gaza stop. We will escalate our military targeting of Israel,” he said. Israel has strongly denied that its forces are committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Bouhaiti said the Houthis do not need the support of Iran, which has seen its allies Hamas and Hezbollah ravaged by wars with Israel over the past 14 months.

“We have enough capabilities – military, economic and even in support of the people – to get through this fight even if we are alone,” he insisted.

He also said the Houthis expected an escalation from the US after President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month, but warned it would “backfire”.

Israel’s prime minister said Thursday night that his country had “attacked targets of the Houthi terrorist organization” as part of what he called a “war of atonement.”

“We are determined to cut off this terrorist arm of the Iranian axis of evil.” We will persevere until we get the job done,” Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that Israel would “pursue all Houthi leaders” as it has done with the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah.

UN spokeswoman Stephanie Tremblay said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres remained “deeply concerned about the risk of further escalation in the region and reiterates his call for all parties concerned to cease all hostilities and exercise maximum restraint.”

Israel’s military said its airstrikes targeted Houthi “military infrastructure” at Sana’a International Airport and the Heziaz and Ras Qanatib power plants, as well as infrastructure at the Red Sea ports of Hudeidah, Salif and Ras Qanatib used to smuggle Iranian weapons .

The Houthi military spokesman said only civilian facilities were hit and that the strikes resulted in casualties and property damage.

The Houthi-controlled Saba news agency reported that three people were killed at Sana’a airport and that three others were killed in Hudeidah province.

However, Houthi-controlled Yemen’s government deputy transport minister Yahya al-Sayani put the death toll at four during a press conference on Friday.

He said Sana’a airport’s control tower, departure lounge and navigation equipment were hit and damaged, and accused Israel of violating international law and aviation regulations.

The strikes at the airport came just as World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was about to board a United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) plane there.

A member of the UN plane’s crew was seriously injured and flown to Jordan on Friday after undergoing surgery at a local hospital, according to Dr Tedros.

“Deepest gratitude to the UNHAS team for their service and speedy evacuation from Yemen,” he wrote to X. “Attacks against civilians and humanitarians must stop, everywhere.”

The head of the WHO was leading a high-level delegation to Yemen to assess the humanitarian situation in a country that has the highest rates of cholera in the world and 80% of the population is in need of some form of aid. He was also asked to try to negotiate the release of 16 UN staff held by the Houthis.

It is normal practice for the UN to share full details of humanitarian flights with all interested parties. However, the Israeli military told The Associated Press that they did not know the UN delegation was at the airport.

WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said her delegation was “in contact with all interested parties to establish the facts” surrounding the incident.