Israel attacks Yemen's capital after warning people to leave area near Sanaa airport

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: May 06, 2025 9:48 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Israel attacked Yemen's capital of Sanaa on Tuesday, Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV said, with eyewitnesses reporting four strikes, after the Israeli military warned people to leave the area around the main airport.

Later Tuesday, Israel's military confirmed it had struck Sanaa International Airport.

The attack followed Israeli airstrikes on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah on Monday in response to a Houthi missile that landed near Israel's main air hub one day earlier.

"Not evacuating puts you in danger," the military said. It published a map of the area surrounding Sanaa International Airport.

In a statement Monday, the military said it attacked what it called Houthi terrorist targets in Hodeidah and its vicinity. The strikes killed four people and injured 39, according to the Houthi-run Health Ministry.

The Houthis shut down the area around the port and cement factory following the strikes, three sources said.

They said the extent of the damage at the port was unknown, yet the intensity of the strikes and fire caused severe damage to the containers' berth.

Two other sources estimated the damage at 70 per cent of the port's five docks, warehouses and customs area. The strikes occurred as two ships were unloading their cargo, with traffic at the port at a complete standstill, a port worker said.

Netanyahu vowed to retaliate 

The port is the second-largest in the Red Sea, after Aden, and is the entry point for about 80 per cent of Yemen's food imports. More than 10 strikes targeted the Hodeidah Port and the Al Salakhanah and Al Hawak neighbourhoods in the city, five residents told Reuters. Four strikes also targeted a cement factory east of Hodeidah.

"The attack was carried out in response to repeated attacks carried out by the Houthi terrorist regime against the state of Israel in which surface-to-surface missiles and unmanned aircraft were launched at the territory of the state and its citizens," the Israeli military said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate for Sunday's missile attack, which was the first known to have escaped interception by Israel's air defences in a series of attacks since March.

Houthi official Abdul Qader al-Mortada said in an X post commenting on the attack that Israel should wait for the "unimaginable."

The Yemeni group resumed its attacks on Israel and shipping lanes following a brief suspension after the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza ended.

U.S. forces not actively involved, official says

The Houthis, who control Yemen, have been firing at Israel and shipping in the Red Sea since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, in what they say is solidarity with the Palestinians.

A U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity said that U.S. forces were not actively involved in Monday's strikes, but there is general co-ordination between the two allies.

Meanwhile, an oil company operated by the Houthis announced it has begun operating an emergency system for supplying cars with fuel, owing to difficulties in unloading cargo at the oil port of Ras Isa.

In a statement, the company attributed the decision to U.S. strikes on the country, including at the port.

U.S. President Donald Trump in March ordered large-scale strikes against the Houthis. The strikes have killed hundreds of people in Yemen while Israel has largely limited its strikes on Yemen since December of last year.

On Monday, Israel approved a plan that may include seizing the Gaza Strip for an unspecified amount of time and controlling aid to the Palestinian enclave.

The war in Gaza started after Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 saw 1,200 people killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's offensive on Gaza has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, Gaza health officials have said, and destroyed much of the enclave.