Israeli strikes on Yemen's capital killed at least seven, say Houthi rebels
Israel attacks on Yemen's capital have killed at least seven people, according to Houthi rebels.
They said two days of attacks, which the Israeli military said had disabled the airport in Sanaa, wounded 74 others.
Israel said the rare daytime attack on Sanaa, held by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels since 2014, left commercial aircraft burning on the tarmac as its fighter jets struck power plants and other targets.
The airstrikes came in response to a Houthi ballistic missile striking the grounds of Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv.
Smoke billows following Israeli airstrikes targeting a power plant and Sanaa Airpor (Osamah Abdulrahman/AP)
Israel's military had warned on social media that people should leave the area immediately, saying that 'failure to evacuate the area endangers your lives'.
The explosions from the strikes echoed across Sanaa, sending the public fleeing to find cover as thick black smoke rose over the skyline.
The Houthis' al-Masirah satellite news channel aired footage from the airport, showing its terminal's windows blown out with concrete blocks exposed and a fire burning inside. On its runway, aircraft associated with the state carrier Yemenia burned.
The airline later said three of its planes had been 'taken out of service' in the attack, although those abroad in Jordan were untouched. The Israeli strike came after a flight to Amman on Tuesday took off.
Other strikes hit a cement plant and power plants, the Houthis and Israelis both said.
On Monday, Israel targeted Houthi rebels in Yemen's Red Sea province of Hodeida, hitting a key port and another cement factory.
Israel's defence minister Israel Katz said the strike should be seen as a warning to the 'head of the Iranian octopus', which he said bears direct responsibility for attacks by the Houthis against Israel.
The Israeli airstrikes involved some 50 bombs and 'dozens' of aircraft, the Israeli military said.
Israeli security forces clean the road from debris where the Israeli military said a projectile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels landed in the area of Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv on Sunday (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)
It also required mid-air refuelling to reach Sanaa, showing their reach also to Iran as Israel has threatened to strike Tehran's nuclear enrichment sites.
Sunday's missile attack by the Houthis struck an access road near Israel's main airport near Tel Aviv, briefly halting flights and commuter traffic. Four people were slightly injured.
It was the first time a missile struck the grounds of Ben-Gurion airport since the October 2023 start of the war in Gaza. While most missiles launched by the Houthis have been intercepted, some missiles and drones have penetrated Israel's air defences.
The UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said the latest strikes carried out on Israel and Yemen's airport marked a 'grave escalation in an already fragile and volatile regional context'. He urged the parties to show restraint.
The future of American attacks on the Houthis, who have pledged to continue to target Israel, was thrown into question after US President Donald Trump said America would stop striking the Houthis.
He described the rebels as having 'capitulated' and agreed to stop targeting shipping in the Red Sea, although the rebels did not specifically acknowledge such a pledge.
'We indirectly informed the Americans that the continued escalation will affect the criminal Trump's visit to the region, and we have not informed them of anything else,' said Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the Houthi's supreme political council, in a statement carried by the rebel-controlled SABA news agency early on Wednesday.
Mr Trump is due to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates next week.
Badr al-Busaidi, the foreign minister of Oman who mediated between the US and the Houthis, also is mediating between America and Iran over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear programme.
'Today's news about the situation in the Red Sea means that diplomatic efforts have lead to the end to the conflict between the US and Ansar Allah in Yemen,' Mr al-Busaidi wrote on X, using another name for the Houthis. 'They will no longer target each other, ensuring freedom of navigation for international commercial shipping in the Red Sea.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Israel attacks Iran's nuclear sites and kills top military leaders
Israel launched a blistering attack on the heart of Iran's nuclear and military structure on Friday, deploying warplanes and drones smuggled into the country to target key facilities and kill top generals and scientists. It said the barrage was necessary before its adversary got any closer to building an atomic weapon. The operation raised the potential for all-out war between the countries and propelled the region, already on edge, into even greater upheaval. Iran quickly retaliated, sending a swarm of drones at Israel as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned of 'severe punishment'. Iran had been censured by the UN's atomic watchdog a day earlier for not complying with obligations meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon. Israel had long threatened such a strike, and successive US administrations had sought to prevent it, fearing it would ignite a wider conflict across the Middle East and possibly be ineffective at destroying Iran's dispersed and hardened nuclear programme. But a confluence of developments triggered by Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack and the election in the US of President Donald Trump created the conditions that allowed Israel to finally follow through on its threats. Israel had told the Trump administration that the large-scale attacks were coming, officials in the US and Israel said. On Wednesday the US pulled some American diplomats from Iraq's capital and offered voluntary evacuations for the families of US troops in the wider Middle East. עדכון חשוב >> — Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) June 13, 2025 The United States is shifting military resources, including ships, in the Middle East in response to Israel's strikes on Iran and a possible retaliatory attack by Tehran, two US officials said. Countries in the region condemned Israel's attack, while leaders around the globe called for immediate de-escalation from both sides. Iran asked for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. Israel's military said about 200 aircraft were involved in the initial attack on about 100 targets. Its Mossad spy agency positioned explosive drones and precision weapons inside Iran ahead of time, and used them to target Iranian air defences and missile launchers near Tehran, according to two security officials. Among the key sites Israel attacked was Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz, where black smoke could be seen rising into the air. Israel also said it destroyed dozens of radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran. An apartment building hit in Tehran (Vahid Salemi/AP) Israel military spokesman Effie Defrin said the Natanz facility was 'significantly damaged' and that the operation was 'still in the beginning'. Among those killed were three of Iran's top military leaders: one who oversaw the entire armed forces, General Mohammad Bagheri; one who led the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, General Hossein Salami; and the head of the Guard's ballistic missile programme, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Iran confirmed all three deaths, significant blows to its governing theocracy that will complicate efforts to retaliate. Khamenei said other top military officials and scientists were also killed. In its first response, Iran fired more than 100 drones at Israel. Israel said the drones were being intercepted outside its airspace, and it was not immediately clear whether any got through. Mr Trump urged Iran to reach a deal with Washington on its nuclear programme, warning on his Truth Social platform that Israel's attacks 'will only get worse'. 'Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire,' he wrote. 'No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.' Smoke rises after an explosion in Tehran (Vahid Salemi/AP) Israeli leaders cast the attack as necessary to head off an imminent threat that Iran would build nuclear bombs, though it remains unclear how close the country is to achieving that or whether Iran had actually been planning a strike. Iran maintains its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only. 'This is a clear and present danger to Israel's very survival,' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed as he vowed to pursue the attack for as long as necessary to 'remove this threat'. Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East but has never acknowledged having such weapons. 'Radiation levels outside the Natanz facility remained unchanged. The type of radioactive contamination present inside the facility, mainly alpha particles, can be managed with appropriate protective measures.' - DG @rafaelmgrossi — IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency ⚛️ (@iaeaorg) June 13, 2025 On Friday, Israelis rushed to supermarkets in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and elsewhere to buy bottled water and other supplies. But, otherwise, streets and parks were mostly deserted. For Mr Netanyahu, the operation distracts attention from Israel's ongoing and increasingly devastating war in Gaza, which is now more than 20 months old. Khamenei said in a statement that Israel 'opened its wicked and blood-stained hand to a crime in our beloved country, revealing its malicious nature more than ever by striking residential centres'. Mr Netanyahu expressed hope the attacks would trigger the downfall of Iran's theocracy, saying his message to the Iranian people was that the fight was not with them, but with the 'brutal dictatorship that has oppressed you for 46 years'. 'I believe that the day of your liberation is near,' he said. US secretary of state Marco Rubio said Israel took 'unilateral action against Iran' and that it believed the strikes were necessary for its self-defence.
RTÉ News
3 hours ago
- RTÉ News
PBP TD Paul Murphy detained in Egypt before Gaza march
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy has been detained in Egypt along with a group of people travelling through the country to reach Rafah on a Gaza peace march, his party has said. The party said Mr Murphy and the group had their passports confiscated by Egyptian authorities. They said the authorities were now trying to get Mr Murphy and other marchers to board a bus for deportation. However, the group are refusing. In a post on X, Mr Murphy wrote: "We have had our passports confiscated and are being detained. "It seems Egyptian authorities have decided to crack down on the #GreatMarchToGaza. "We are refusing to board the deportation bus." We have had our passports confiscated and are being detained. It seems Egyptian authorities have decided to crack down on the #GreatMarchToGaza. We are refusing to board the deportation bus. — Paul Murphy 🇵🇸 (@paulmurphy_TD) June 13, 2025 Matt Collins, National Secretary, People Before Profit, called on the Government to demand Egyptian authorities release Mr Murphy and the others who have been detained. He said: "They are on a peaceful march to demand that humanitarian aid is delivered to starving people in Gaza. There is no reason for them to be detained. "We also call on the public to contact the Egyptian embassy to demand that people on the Global March to Gaza are allowed to travel unhindered." Hundreds of people came to Egypt this week for the Global March to Gaza, an international initiative intended to exert pressure for an end to an Israeli blockade of the Palestinian enclave and draw attention to the humanitarian crisis there. Organisers yesterday said people from 80 countries were set to begin the march to Egypt's Rafah Crossing with Gaza, and confirmed some had been deported or were detained at the airport.
The Journal
4 hours ago
- The Journal
Irish citizens are now advised against travel to Israel
THE DEPARTMENT OF Foreign Affairs (DFA) has issued an advisory to all citizens not to travel to Israel after the country attacked Iran early this morning, prompting tit-for-tat strikes. The initial Israeli attack targeted Iran's nuclear programme as well as civilian areas in the capital Tehran, killing high-ranking members of Iran's military and Revolutionary Guard. The Department has updated its travel advisory for Israel to 'Do Not Travel' as it warns of a 'tense and unpredictable' climate arising from the anticipation of further missile strikes from both sides. On its website, the DFA says: 'There is an imminent risk of rocket fire, drone infiltration and ballistic missiles, which can occur without warning, and can disrupt civilian infrastructure, including transportation and communications. 'We strongly advise that citizens familiarise themselves with their closest protected location. Many buildings are fitted with 'safe rooms'; reinforced spaces designed to withstand missile attacks.' The DFA also urges Irish citizens in Israel to be aware of a list of public bomb shelters available for Tel Aviv and Jerusalem . It reminds citizens of the limitations of their travel around certain parts of Israel, namely the north of the country along the Lebanon border where it is closed due to military activity. It also says Israeli authorities reserve the right to deny entry to the country to 'foreign nationals who have publicly called for a boycott of Israel and/or settlements'. Advertisement Tánaiste Simon Harris spoke on RTÉ News at One earlier today where he confirmed the Department's updated travel advisory. 'The very clear travel advice from Ireland now is that no Irish citizen should travel to Israel,' Harris said, adding: 'We're keeping in very close contact with our diplomatic teams on the ground in Iran and in Israel.' He said that there are 'around seventeen' Irish citizens who are long-term residents in Iran, and that DFA is in regular contact with them. Global airlines on Friday cancelled flights to Tel Aviv, Tehran and other Middle East destinations, or rerouted planes, as airspaces shut following Israeli strikes on Iran. Israel, Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Syria closed their airspaces after Israel hit military and nuclear facilities in Iran. Israel said Tehran launched drones in retaliation. Air India's New Delhi-Vienna and Mumbai-London flights were about to enter Iranian airspace when Israel launched its attack, forcing the planes to turn back to their origin, according to aircraft tracker Flight Aware. The Russian embassy in Tel Aviv pressed Russians in Israel to leave the country if they could and said it 'strongly recommends' against travelling there until the 'situation normalises.' The Times of Israel reports that the state has closed all foreign embassies worldwide. 'Israeli missions around the world will be closed and consular services will not be provided,' said Israel's Foreign Ministry in a statement. The ministry also urged all its citizens living abroad to fill out a survey to update their location and situation. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
