Israeli warplanes bombed the Sanaa International Airport in Yemen again on Thursday as the Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, have continued missile attacks on Israel in support of the Palestinians in Gaza.
Yemeni officials said four strikes hit a runway at the airport. Khaled al-Shaief, director of the Sanaa airport, said the attack destroyed the last operational plane used by Yemen’s national airlines and posted a photo on X of the aftermath of the attack.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz claimed the attack hit “terror targets” at the airport. “Air Force jets have just struck terror targets of the Houthi terrorist organization at the airport in Sanaa and destroyed the last aircraft remaining,” he said.
The Sanaa airport had just resumed limited service on May 17 after it had suspended all flights due to Israeli airstrikes on May 6 that left the facility “totally disabled.”
Recent US and Israeli airstrikes on Yemeni civilian infrastructure and new US sanctions on the Houthis, who govern an area where 70% to 80% of Yemenis live, have exacerbated an already dire humanitarian crisis in the country.
From March 15 to May 6, the US struck more than 1,000 targets in Yemen, killing over 200 civilians.
Since President Trump announced a ceasefire with the Houthis, the Yemeni group has shown no sign of backing down against Israel and has repeatedly vowed its attacks would stop only if there were a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the Israeli blockade on the Palestinian territory.
Ansar Allah leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said Wednesday that the Israeli attacks wouldn’t deter Yemen. “No matter the size of Israeli aggression and no matter how often it repeats, it will not affect our people’s stance in supporting the Palestinian people. The Israeli enemy remained in a weak position following the cessation of American aggression due to its failure,” he said.
While Trump framed the truce with the Houthis as a US victory, the US really gave up trying to stop Yemeni attacks on Israel after a month and a half of heavy airstrikes.
