At least 35 people were killed and 131 others injured after Israeli air strikes hit Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and the al-Jawf governorate, a day after strikes targeting Hamas leaders in Doha.
Yemen’s Ministry of Health described the toll as preliminary and warned the numbers could rise as rescue operations continue.
The ministry said Israeli air raids struck civilian and residential areas, including homes in Sanaa’s al-Tahrir neighbourhood, a medical facility on al-Sitteen Street in the southwest of the city, and a government compound in al-Jawf’s capital, al-Hazm. Civil defence teams were working to extinguish fires and rescue survivors from the rubble.
According to Al Masirah TV, the strikes hit a medical facility for health workers in southwest Sanaa and the local government compound in al-Hazm, reporting “martyrs, wounded, and several homes damaged” in the attack on the Moral Guidance Headquarters.
The extent of the damage remains unclear, though the Yemen Oil and Gas Corporation confirmed that Israeli jets also targeted a medical station in Sanaa.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said their forces fired surface-to-air missiles at the Israeli aircraft, forcing some to turn back before striking, and claimed much of the attack had been thwarted.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it struck “military targets belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime,” including camps, the group’s military public relations headquarters, and a fuel storage facility.
The Yemeni Armed Forces rejected Israeli claims of striking missile launch platforms, asserting instead that the air raids hit “purely civilian properties.”
They said the bombardment targeted the offices of the newspapers 26 September and Al-Yemen, causing casualties among journalists, including women, as well as among civilians and passersby.
Calling it a “treacherous aggression,” they said it “will not pass without response and punishment.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that this attack was in response to a Houthi drone strike on Ramon Airport in Israel.
“This 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, warning that “ We will continue to strike. Anyone who strikes us, anyone who attacks us –we will reach them.”
Israel has repeatedly expanded its military campaigns beyond Gaza, striking Yemen on multiple occasions, including its main airport, killing civilians and damaging essential infrastructure in the country.
Just last month, an Israeli air strike killed senior Yemeni officials, including Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi.
Many note that such strikes form part of a broader pattern, with Israel simultaneously bombing Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, while intensifying crackdowns in the occupied West Bank that have displaced thousands of Palestinians.
In Gaza, 23 months of bombardment have reduced the territory to ruins, with more than 64,000 Palestinians killed since October 2023. Yet the attacks have not been limited to Gaza alone.
On Tuesday, Israel bombed a residential building in Doha where Hamas leaders were reportedly meeting to discuss a ceasefire plan proposed by US President Donald Trump. At least six people were killed, though Hamas later said its top leadership survived the attempt.
The strikes, combined with incidents like the recent grenade drop near United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, have fueled growing criticism of Israel’s actions as part of a recurring cycle of aggression across the region.
