Bombay Durpun - Fresh strike hits Yemen's rebel-held capital

The strike comes a day after Israeli air raids hit Sanaa international airport and other targets in Yemen, as the head of the UN's World Health Organization was preparing to fly out from the Huthi-held capital and injuring a UN crew member.

"I heard the blast. My house shook," one Sanaa resident told AFP late Friday.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the latest strike, but Yemen's Huthi rebels blamed it on "US-British aggression".

There was no immediate comment from Israel, the United States or Britain.

In addition to targeting Israel with missiles and drones, the Huthis have also attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea, a vital trade route, in a solidarity campaign with Palestinians after war erupted in Gaza in October 2023.

Their attacks prompted reprisal strikes against Huthi targets by the United States and sometimes Britain.

Earlier Friday, the Huthis said they fired a missile at Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv and launched drones at the city and a ship in the Arabian Sea.

Israel's military said a missile launched from Yemen had been intercepted "before crossing into Israeli territory."

Sirens sounded because of possible falling debris after the interception, it said.

The Huthis have stepped up their attacks against Israel since late November's ceasefire between Israel and another Iran-backed group, Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israeli "aggression will only increase the determination and resolve of the great Yemeni people to continue supporting the Palestinian people", a Huthi statement said Friday.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Sanaa Friday to protest against the Israeli strikes and express solidarity with Palestinians.

"The equation has changed and has become: (targeting) airport for airport, port for port, and infrastructure for infrastructure," Huthi supporter Mohammed al-Gobisi said.

"We will not get tired or bored of supporting our brothers in Gaza."

- Airport damaged -

Despite the damage at Sanaa airport, flights resumed at 10:00 am (0700 GMT) on Friday, Huthi Deputy Transport Minister Yahya al-Sayani said.

"The airport tower has been directly hit in addition to the departure lounge and airport navigation equipment. The attack resulted in four dead until now and around 20 wounded from staff, airport and passengers", Sayani said.

Israel's military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether they knew at the time that WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was there.

The strikes left the top of the control tower a bombed-out shell, and large windows in the airport building were shattered.

Sanaa airport, which reopened to international flights in 2022 after a six-year gap, offers a regular service to Jordan's capital, Amman, on the Yemenia airline.

Israel's attack came a day after the rebels claimed they fired a missile and two drones at Israel.

In his latest warning to the Huthis, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military would "continue until the job is done".

"We are determined to cut this branch of terrorism from the Iranian axis of evil," he said in a video statement.

- Yemenis depend on aid -

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denounced the escalation in hostilities, and said bombing transportation infrastructure threatened humanitarian operations in Yemen, where 80 percent of the population depends on aid.

Tedros was in Yemen to seek the release of UN staff detained for months by the Huthis, and to assess the humanitarian situation.

On Friday he said that a member of the UN's Humanitarian Air Service "who was injured yesterday due to the bombardment underwent successful surgery and is now in stable condition".

He later posted on X that he had safely reached Jordan with his team, including the injured colleague who he said needs further treatment.

A witness told AFP that Thursday's raids also targeted the adjacent Al-Dailami air base. Strikes also targeted a power station in Hodeida, on the rebel-held coast, a witness and Al-Masirah TV said.

Following previous rebel attacks on Israel this year, Israeli strikes twice hit Hodeida, a major entry point for humanitarian aid to the country ravaged for years by its own war.

On December 19, after the rebels fired a missile towards Israel and badly damaged a school, Israel struck targets in Sanaa for the first time.

Huthi media said those strikes killed nine people.

- 'Iranian weapons' -

Israel's latest targets included "military infrastructure" at the airport and power stations in Sanaa and Hodeida, as well as other facilities at Hodeida, Salif and Ras Kanatib ports, an Israeli statement said.

Similar strikes in September followed a rebel claim to have targeted Ben Gurion Airport. At the time Israel also said it targeted sites used to "transfer Iranian weaponry".

On December 21, Israel's military and emergency services said a projectile fired from Yemen wounded 16 people in Tel Aviv.

The Huthis control large parts of Yemen after seizing Sanaa and ousting the internationally recognised government in September 2014.

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D.Jayaraman--BD