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US aircraft launched intensive airstrikes early Saturday morning targeting sites belonging to the Ansar Allah group (Houthis) in Saada Governorate, northern Yemen. This is a new escalation of US attacks that have continued over the past few days.
The Houthis confirmed that the bombing targeted the Saqayn district, west of Saada, without revealing details of the casualties. Media outlets affiliated with the group reported that US airstrikes since last Saturday have resulted in the deaths of 53 people, including what they described as "prominent" figures. According to the Brussels-based European news network Euronews, which added that in his first comment on the attacks, Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree stressed that "the American attacks will not deter Yemen from continuing to support the Palestinian people in Gaza, whatever the consequences," as he put it.
Saree pointed to the implementation of a new military operation against Israel, targeting Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv with a "Palestine 2" hypersonic ballistic missile. He explained that this was the third strike on the airport within 48 hours, confirming that it accurately hit its targets.
Saree issued a direct warning to international airlines, saying that "Ben Gurion Airport is no longer safe for air traffic as long as the Israeli bombing of Gaza and the siege imposed on it continue."
In this context, the Israeli Ambulance Authority announced that 13 Israelis were injured, most of them as a result of the stampede while heading to shelters after the missile was launched. Three of them suffered from panic attacks, but no serious injuries were reported.
The missile attack triggered air raid sirens in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and hundreds of surrounding towns, while the Israeli army confirmed that the missile was intercepted before it was fired. It reached deep into Israeli airspace.
Israeli Channel 12 reported that air traffic was completely halted at Ben Gurion Airport, before resuming later.
At the same time, the Houthi group announced another operation targeting naval vessels of the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea using drones.
This military escalation comes after a series of US airstrikes targeting Houthi sites in Yemen. Washington said these raids aimed to halt attacks on cargo ships and military vessels in the Red Sea.
Since November 2023, the Houthis have launched a campaign targeting Israeli or Israeli-linked vessels in the Red Sea in support of the Gaza Strip, which has faced continuous Israeli bombardment.
This is the fourth missile attack of its kind carried out by the Houthi group against targets inside Israel since the ceasefire agreement in Gaza came into effect in mid-January. Israel suddenly escalated its airstrikes on the Gaza Strip since dawn last Tuesday, intensively targeting residential neighborhoods and civilian homes across the Strip, in one of the most intense rounds of bombing since the start of the war. According to official statistics issued by the Government Media Office in Gaza, this escalation resulted in the deaths of 591 people and the injury of 1,042 others as of Thursday evening, including a large number of women, children, and the elderly, who it says constitute approximately 70% of the total casualties.