Israeli fighter planes bombed the main international airport in Yemen on Tuesday in retaliation for a missile attack by the Houthi militia which struck near the main weekend airport last weekend.
Israeli strikes were the last salvo of a battle with the Houthis supported by Iran, which govern a large part of the North West Yemen, whose capital, Sana. They pulled dozens of rockets and drones in Israel, and many others in ships of the Red Sea, in what they call a solidarity campaign with Palestinians in Gaza.
The Houthis have also been the target of an American bombing campaign on Yemen since mid-March. President Trump has greatly increased attacks on the country in order to degrade the militia’s ability to attack the expedition – an effort that was launched by the Biden administration – and Mr. Trump promised that the Houthis will be “completely destroyed”.
But Trump said on Tuesday that the United States would stop bombing the Houthis, saying it “didn’t want to fight anymore.” He refused to reveal how he knew that the militia is retreating.
After Mr. Trump’s remarks Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti, a superior Houthi politician, said that if the United States interrupted his attacks on Yemen, the Houthis would cease their attacks on “American military fleets and interests”. However, he said that the Houthis would pursue military operations “in support of Gaza” until Israel lifts his seat on the enclave.
Later, the president of the supreme political council of the Houthis, Mahdi Al-Mashat, promised an answer to Israeli air strikes which would be “overwhelming, painful and beyond the capacity of the Israeli and American enemy to wear”.
His statement was not clear if the Houthis would stop preventing international transport, which had been the objective of the American bombing campaign. Oman’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Badr Albusaidi, said on social networks that Oman had mediated the agreement between the Houthis and the United States not to target in the future.
Earlier Tuesday, the government controlled by the Houthis published a provocative declaration saying that it was fighting a “holy war to help the Palestinian people in Gaza.” The Houthis are confronted “an enemy who is used to committing war crimes and a genocide and targeting civilians,” he added, promising to maintain attacks.
Yemen, located at the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula, is the poorest Arab country, with one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
Israeli air strikes on the Yemeni capital, Sana and other parts of the country killed at least three people and injured more than 30 others, said the government led by Houth, adding that the toll was preliminary.
After the Israeli strikes, Yemeni civilians said they would suffer from the airport and the disruption of flights.
Waseem al-Haidari, 42, said the air strikes “will inflict pain and fear” and destroy the life of civilians. He said that his 80 -year -old aunt had been scheduled to go to Yemen from his home in Bahrain to visit his family next week, via Sana airport.
“Now she can’t get there,” he said. “She wanted to visit the village and see her family.”
Sana International Airport provides one of the rare links with the outside world for the more than 20 million Yemenis who live in a territory controlled by Houthi, serving as a means to obtain vital medical treatment and to reach work and loved ones abroad.
Before his attack on Tuesday, the Israeli army had appealed to social media threatening the airport and ordering everyone in the region to evacuate. Israeli warplates have also struck power plants and a cement plant.
“The strike was carried out in response to the attack launched by the terrorist regime Houthi against Ben Gurion airport,” an Israeli military statement said. “The flight tracks, airport planes and infrastructure have been struck,” he added, saying the airport had been disabled.
Israel previously hit the airport in December.
On Sunday, a Houthi ballistic missile escaped the air defenses of Israel to strike near the international airport in Ben Gurion, outside Tel Aviv. Several airlines have canceled flights in response to the strike – which injured at least six people – and Israeli leaders have promised reprisals.
The following evening, Israeli fighter planes bombed the port of Hudaydah in northwestern Yemen and the cement plant east of the city. According to the Ministry of Health, at least four people were killed.
Since the strike of Ben Gurion, the Houthis have declared an “air blockade” on Israel, saying that they will continue to target Israeli airports.
Yemeni analysts say that the Houthis will not be dissuaded by bombing and that the conflict with the United States and Israel do not strengthen the group.
“The air strikes have never dissuaded the Houthis in the past,” said Nadwa al-Dawsari, Yémenite analyst at the Middle East Institute in Washington.
Sana Airport was closed for almost six years during a war against the Houthis by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia which aimed to unroll the militia and restore the internationally recognized government of the country. The airport reopened commercial flights in 2022.
While the airport has been closed, tens of thousands of seriously sick Yemenis who needed medical treatment abroad were trapped in the country, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council, a humanitarian aid organization that operates in Yemen. Many others were stuck abroad.
For Sana civilians, Israeli attacks are perceived as “a form of collective punishment,” said Mohammed Al-Basha, an independent Yemeni analyst based in Washington.
Sana Airport is mainly used for civil travel, while foreign military experts and Houthi commanders enter the country via sea roads or other channels, he said.
Despite the strikes of Yemeni ports and the airport, the militia is still able to access weapons and military technology, based on smuggling operations along the country’s coast.
Shuaiah Almosawa contributed the reports of Sana, Yemen, and Ismael at De Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
