Thirty-five dead in Israeli strikes on rebel-held Yemen

Smoke billows after Israeli strikes on Yemen's Huthi-held capital Sanaa. Photo / Mohammed Huwais, AFP

Israeli airstrikes on Houthi-held Yemen have killed 35 people and wounded more than 130, the Iran-backed rebels said, days after their Prime Minister and half the Cabinet died in a major attack.

The Houthi armed forces’ media operation in Sanaa, the rebel-held capital, and a Houthi complex in Jawf province were hit in the attacks, the group said.

Israel has launched repeated attacks on Houthi targets during the Gaza war, as the rebels fire missiles and drones at Israel and Red Sea shipping, claiming solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

Seven were killed and 100 wounded at the media building in Sanaa, and two are dead and 20 wounded in Jawf, which borders Saudi Arabia, Houthi health ministry spokesman Anees Alasbahi said.

“Civil defence, ambulances and rescue teams are still searching for the missing.”

A large plume of grey smoke billowed above Sanaa as the strikes echoed across the city, which has been controlled by the Houthis for more than a decade.

High-profile assassinations

The Houthis’ Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi, nine ministers and two Cabinet officials were killed as they attended a Government meeting in the Sanaa area last month.

The killings were the most high-profile assassinations of Houthi officials during nearly two years of hostilities with Israel over the Gaza war.

The latest airstrikes come after a drone launched from Yemen struck Ramon airport in southern Israel on Sunday, wounding one person.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said journalists working for the September 26 and al-Yaman newspapers were among those killed at the “Moral Guidance Headquarters” in Sanaa.

The Israeli military also said it struck the armed forces’ media operations, among other facilities.

The targets included “military camps in which operatives of the terrorist regime were identified, the Houthis’ military public relations headquarters and a fuel storage facility that was used by the terrorist regime”, the Israeli military said.

The Houthis’ Al-Masirah television said the strikes in Jawf hit a Central Bank branch building in the city of Al-Hazm, wounding employees.

The Houthis said they fought back with air defences, without giving details.

Since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023, the Houthis have launched repeated drone and missile attacks against Israel.

Israel has carried out rounds of retaliatory strikes in Yemen, mainly targeting infrastructure such as ports, power stations and the international airport in Sanaa.

- Agence France-Presse