SANAA: Israeli strikes on Sanaa killed at least nine people and wounded more than 170 on Thursday, Yemen’s Houthis said, a day after the rebels launched a drone attack on southern Israel.
AFP correspondents heard explosions and saw plumes of smoke rising from three locations in the Sanaa area, in the latest retaliatory attack since the Houthis began targeting Israel in the wake of the Gaza war.
Israeli forces hit several Houthi-linked targets in the rebel-held capital, Israeli officials said, warning of more attacks to come. Houthi media said the targets included a detention facility.
The Israeli military later said “a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted”, with sirens blaring in central Israel.
Rescuers in Yemen were still searching for victims of Israeli strikes, which left “nine martyrs and 174 wounded”, Houthi health ministry spokesman Anees Alasbahi said in an updated toll on X.
The Houthis’ Al-Masirah television channel, citing a security source, said Israel “targeted one of the (security and intelligence) service’s correctional facilities, which houses a number of prisoners and detainees”.
Al-Masirah earlier said that a power station and two residential neighbourhoods had been targeted, sharing pictures that showed low-rise buildings with bombed-out windows.
One picture showed twisted metal and pieces of concrete filling the street as people looked on, with another photo showing people on the roof of a badly damaged building.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the strikes “dealt a powerful blow to numerous terror targets of the Houthi terror organisation in Sanaa”.
They hit “several military camps eliminated dozens of Houthi terror operatives, and destroyed stockpiles of UAVs (drones) and weaponry”, Katz said on X.
The Israeli military said the targets included the Huthis’ general staff headquarters, as well as other security and intelligence sites including some used to store weapons and “plan and execute” attacks on Israel.
It added that the rebels’ “military public relations headquarters” was also targeted.
The military statement warned Israel would “conduct additional offensive operations against the Houthi regime in the near future”.
Failed interception
The Israeli strikes on Sanaa came moments before Al-Masirah began broadcasting rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi’s weekly pre-recorded speech.
The impact sites were cordoned off, an AFP correspondent said. The Houthi authorities have previously warned Yemenis against publishing footage of locations hit in strikes, describing it as “a service to the enemy”.
Israel’s killing of 31 Yemeni journalists marks deadliest global attack in 16 years
On Wednesday, a drone attack claimed by the Huthis struck the southern Israeli tourist resort of Eilat after failed attempts by Israel’s air defences to intercept it.
Rescuers reported 22 wounded including two in serious condition.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Katz warned of a severe response.
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels began targeting Israel with missiles and drones, as well as attacking vessels they deem linked to the country, after the 2023 start of the Gaza war.
The Houthis say they act in solidarity with Palestinians.
Israel in response has carried out strikes in Yemen, mainly targeting infrastructure such as ports, power stations and Sanaa’s international airport.
Israeli strikes killed 46 people earlier this month, according to Houthi authorities.
The dead include journalists working for the September 26 and al-Yaman newspapers, who were killed in an attack on Sanaa that targeted the Houthi’s military media operation.
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