Houthis vow to continue attacking Israel despite attacks on Yemen

A Houthi political official says the group will continue attacking Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians despite escalating Israeli airstrikes in Yemen.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti told the BBC that the Houthis would “intensify our military attacks against Israel” until what he described as “the genocide in Gaza” is stopped.

On Thursday, Israeli warplanes attacked the international airport in Yemen’s capital Sanaa and ports and power plants on the Red Sea coast, killing at least four people.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that his response to more than a year of missile and drone attacks by the Iran-backed group is “just beginning.”

During the night, the Houthis launched another ballistic missile at Israel, which the Israeli military said was intercepted before it reached Israeli territory.

The UN secretary-general said he was “gravely concerned” about the escalation.

He also called the attacks on the airport and ports “particularly alarming” and warned that they posed “serious risks to humanitarian operations” in the war-torn country.

The Houthis, who control northwest Yemen, began attacking Israel and international shipping shortly after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in October 2023.

Israel has carried out four rounds of airstrikes against the Houthis since July in retaliation for the 400 missiles and drones that the Israeli military says have been launched at the country from Yemen, most of which have been shot down.

The United States and the United Kingdom have also carried out airstrikes in Yemen in response to the group’s attacks on dozens of merchant ships in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthis’ political bureau, told the BBC’s Newshour program on Friday that Yemenis were now “moving towards direct confrontation” with the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel after fighting what he called their “tools” during the Yemen crisis. civil war that lasted a decade. He appeared to refer to the Saudi-led coalition that intervened in support of the Yemeni government when the Houthis took control of Sana’a in 2015.

“We are committed to continuing our military operation in support of Gaza and will not stop until the crimes of genocide and the siege of Gaza cease. We will intensify our military strikes against Israel,” he said. Israel has vehemently denied that its forces are committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Bukhaiti said the Houthis did not need support from Iran, which has seen its allies Hamas and Hezbollah devastated by wars with Israel over the past 14 months.

“We have enough capabilities – military, economic and even popular support – to face this battle, even if we are alone,” he insisted.

He also said the Houthis expected an escalation from the United States after President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month, but warned it would be “counterproductive.”

Israel’s prime minister claimed Thursday afternoon that his country had “attacked targets of the Houthi terrorist organization” as part of what he called a “war of redemption.”

“We are determined to cut off this terrorist arm of Iran’s axis of evil. We will persist until we get the job done,” said Benjamin Netanyahu.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that Israel will “hunt down all Houthi leaders,” as it had done with the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah.

U.N. spokesperson Stéphanie Tremblay said Secretary-General António Guterres remained “deeply concerned about the risk of further escalation in the region and reiterates his call on all parties involved to cease all military actions and exercise maximum restraint.” “.

The Israeli military said its airstrikes targeted Houthi “military infrastructure” at the Sanaa international airport and the Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power plants, as well as infrastructure in the Red Sea ports of Hudaydah, Salif and Ras Kanatib. used to smuggle Iranian weapons.

The Houthi military spokesman said that only civilian facilities were hit and that the attacks caused deaths and property damage.

The Houthi-controlled Saba news agency reported that three people were killed at Sanaa airport and three others were killed in Hudaydah province.

However, the deputy transport minister of Houthi-controlled Yemen’s government, Yahya al-Sayani, put the death toll at four during a press conference on Friday.

He said the Sana’a airport control tower, departure lounge and navigation equipment were hit and damaged, and accused Israel of violating international law and aviation regulations.

The airport attacks occurred just as World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was about to board a UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) plane there.

A crew member on the UN plane was seriously injured and flown to Jordan on Friday after undergoing surgery at a local hospital, according to Dr. Tedros.

“My deepest gratitude to the UNHAS team for their service and rapid evacuation from Yemen,” he wrote in X. “Attacks on civilians and humanitarian workers must stop everywhere.”

The WHO chief had been leading a high-level delegation to Yemen to assess the humanitarian situation in a country that has the highest levels of cholera in the world and 80% of the population needs some form of aid. He had also been asked to try to negotiate the release of 16 UN staff detained by the Houthis.

It is normal practice for the UN to share all details of humanitarian flights with all relevant parties. However, the Israeli military told the Associated Press that it was not aware that the UN delegation was at the airport.

WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris said her delegation was “in contact with all relevant parties to determine the facts” surrounding the incident.