Israel strikes Yemen's main airport in capital of Sanaa
Attack followed Israeli strikes on Yemeni port of Hodeidah a day earlier in response to Houthi missile
The Israeli military carried out an airstrike on Yemen's main airport in Sanaa on Tuesday, its second attack in two days on Iran-aligned Houthi rebels after a surge in tensions between the group and Israel.
Three people were killed in the strike, according to Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV.
Israel warned people to leave the area around Sanaa International Airport before Tuesday's attack, which it said targeted Houthi infrastructure and "fully disabled the airport." Witnesses later reported four strikes in the capital.
Tensions have been high since the Gaza war began, but have risen further since a Houthi missile landed near Israel's Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday, prompting Israeli airstrikes on Yemen's Hodeidah port on Monday.
"A short while ago, IDF [Israel Defence Forces] fighter jets struck and dismantled Houthi terrorist infrastructure at the main airport in Sanaa, fully disabling the airport," the Israeli military said Tuesday.
"The strike was carried out in response to the attack launched by the Houthi terrorist regime against Ben Gurion Airport. Flight runways, aircraft and infrastructure at the airport were struck."
Three airport sources told Reuters that the strikes targeted three civilian airplanes, the departures hall, the airport runway and a military airbase under Houthi control.
An official at Yemen's flag carrier, Yemenia Airways, told Reuters that an initial assessment showed three of its aircraft were destroyed.
In a statement carried by Al-Masirah, the Houthis said: "The operations of our armed forces will continue and the support by Yemen to Palestine will only end with the end of the aggression and siege against Gaza."
The United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg said on X that the latest hostilities "mark a grave escalation in an already fragile and volatile regional context."
Netanyahu vowed to retaliate
The Israelis strikes around Hodeidah on Monday killed four people and wounded 39, the Houthi-run Health Ministry said.
The Hodeidah port is the second-largest in the Red Sea, after Aden, and is the entry point for about 80 per cent of Yemen's food imports. More than 10 strikes targeted the port and the Al Salakhanah and Al Hawak neighbourhoods in the city, five residents told Reuters. Four strikes also targeted a cement factory east of Hodeidah.
"The attack was carried out in response to repeated attacks carried out by the Houthi terrorist regime against the state of Israel in which surface-to-surface missiles and unmanned aircraft were launched at the territory of the state and its citizens," the Israeli military said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to retaliate for Sunday's missile attack, which was the first known to have escaped interception by Israel's air defences in a series of attacks since March.
Houthi official Abdul Qader al-Mortada said in an X post commenting on the attack that Israel should wait for the "unimaginable."
U.S. forces not actively involved, official says
The Houthis, who control Yemen, have been firing at Israel and shipping in the Red Sea since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, in what they say is solidarity with the Palestinians.
The Yemeni group resumed its attacks following a brief suspension after the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza ended.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that American forces were not actively involved in Monday's strikes, but there is general co-ordination between the two allies.
Meanwhile, an oil company operated by the Houthis announced it has begun operating an emergency system for supplying cars with fuel, owing to difficulties in unloading cargo at the oil port of Ras Isa.
In a statement, the company attributed the decision to U.S. strikes on the country, including at the port.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. will stop bombing the Houthis in Yemen, saying the Iran-aligned group had agreed to stop interrupting important shipping lanes in the Middle East.
In March, Trump ordered large-scale strikes against the Houthis, which killed hundreds of people.
"They said, 'Please don't bomb us anymore and we're not going to attack your ships,'" Trump said on Tuesday, in an Oval Office meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. "And I will accept their word, and we are going to stop the bombing of the Houthis effective immediately."
There was no immediate response from the Houthis.
On Monday, Israel approved a plan that may include seizing the Gaza Strip for an unspecified amount of time and controlling aid to the Palestinian enclave.
The war in Gaza started after Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 saw 1,200 people killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's offensive on Gaza has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, Gaza health officials have said, and destroyed much of the enclave.