Houthis vow to continue attacks on Israel despite strikes 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-Buhaiti told the BBC the Houthis would “increase hostilities against Israel” until what he called a “genocide in Gaza” ends.

On Thursday, Israeli warplanes struck the international airport in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, as well as ports and power plants on the Red Sea coast, killing at least four people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that the response to missile and drone attacks by the Iran-backed group is “just beginning” for more than a year.

Overnight, the Houthis fired another ballistic missile at Israel, which the Israeli military said was intercepted before it reached Israeli territory.

The UN Secretary General said he was “seriously concerned” by the escalation.

He also called the strikes on the airport and ports “particularly worrying” and warned that they posed a “serious risk to humanitarian operations” in the war-torn country.

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

Israel has launched four rounds of airstrikes against the Houthis since July in retaliation for 400 rockets and drones the Israeli military said were launched into the country from Yemen, most of which were shot down.

The US and Britain have also carried out airstrikes in Yemen in response to attacks by the group on dozens of merchant ships in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Mohammed al-Buhaiti, a member of the Houthis’ political bureau, told the BBC’s Newshour program on Friday that Yemenis were now “moving to a direct confrontation” with the US, Britain and Israel after fighting what he called their “tools” during the Yemen war. ten years of civil war. He appeared to be referring to the Saudi-led coalition that intervened to support Yemen’s government when the Houthis seized control of Sanaa in 2015.

“We are determined to continue our military operation in support of Gaza and we will not stop until the crimes of genocide and the siege of Gaza end. We are going to intensify military actions against Israel,” he said. Israel categorically denies that its forces are committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

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

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

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

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

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

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

UN spokeswoman Stephanie Tremblay said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres remained “deeply concerned about the risk of further escalation in the region and reiterates his call for all parties concerned to cease all hostilities and exercise maximum restraint.”

The Israeli military said its airstrikes targeted Houthi “military infrastructure” at Sana’a International Airport and the Heziaz and Ras Qanatib power stations, as well as infrastructure at the Red Sea ports of Hudaydah, Salif and Ras Qanatib, which were used to smuggle Iranian weapons.

A Houthi military spokesman said only civilian targets were hit and that the strikes resulted in casualties and property damage.

The Houthi-controlled Saba news agency said three people were killed at Sana’a airport and that three more were killed in Hudeidah province.

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

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

The strikes on the airport occurred just as the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was about to board a United Nations Humanitarian Aviation Service (UNHAS) plane.

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

“Deep gratitude to the UNHAS team for their service and speedy evacuation from Yemen,” he wrote on X. “Attacks on civilians and humanitarian organizations must stop everywhere.”

The WHO chief led a high-level delegation to Yemen to assess the humanitarian situation in the country, which has the world’s highest rate of cholera and 80% of the population is in need of some form of assistance. He was also asked to try to negotiate the release of 16 UN staff detained by the Houthis.

It is normal practice for the UN to share full information on humanitarian flights with all stakeholders. However, the Israeli military told The Associated Press that they were unaware the UN delegation was at the airport.

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