Israel Vows to Assassinate Houthi Leaders Amid Intensifying Airstrikes in Yemen

The damaged control tower of Sana’a international airport after Israeli strikes. Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP via Getty Images

Sana'a, YEMEN—Emboldened by the results of 14 months of regional war, and backed by the U.S., Israel has steadily intensified its bombing attacks against Yemen. On Thursday, Israel launched a wave of airstrikes on Yemen’s capital and the port of Hodeidah, targeting Sana’a International Airport with four airstrikes just one day after the Houthis targeted Tel Aviv and Ashkelon. The Israeli attacks destroyed the air traffic control tower, while damaging the runway and arrival lounge, where dozens of passengers were awaiting a flight to Amman.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Yemen, Julien Harneis, were at the airport leaving Yemen when it “came under aerial bombardment,” Ghebreyesus wrote in a post. “One of our plane’s crew members was injured. At least two people were reported killed at the airport. The air traffic control tower, the departure lounge — just a few meters from where we were — and the runway were damaged,” he said.

Another airstrike south of the capital and one in the port city of Hodeidah targeted major power stations. In total, the attacks killed six people and wounded 40 others, according to the Sana’a government.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday: “We are determined to cut off this terrorist arm of Iran's axis of evil. We will persist until we get the job done."

The defense minister of Israel also made it clear that he would target the Houthi leaders including the group's chief leader, Abdulmalik al-Houthi. The threats to assassinate Houthi leaders came just days after Israel claimed responsibility for killing Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last summer.

This is the fourth time since Israel’s siege of Gaza began that Israel is attacking Yemen—this time in retaliation for two drone attacks launched at Tel Aviv and Ashkelon. Footage posted on X showed a fire breaking out in the industrial city in Ashkelon, in what a reporter said was the result of targeting.

The escalation between Israel and the Houthis marks a dangerous turning point in the ongoing conflict between the two sides that began following October 7. The Houthis have been targeting Israel for the past year, repeatedly striking the port of Eilat in retaliation for Israel’s war on Gaza. But it wasn't until September 15, 2024 that the Houthis unveiled what they claimed to be hypersonic ballistic missile technology, that they then began deploying in attacks on the Israeli capital, alongside periodic drone attacks. Analysts believe the Houthis are getting some parts of their missile stockpile from Iran or elsewhere and that they have their own weapon plants. Regardless, they have shown improvements in range and sophistication over the past year. A missile attack on Tel Aviv on December 16 appeared to evade Israel’s defense system.

The Israeli military claimed that it hit “military infrastructure” used by the Houthis, including for the smuggling of weapons. The Houthis responded today, striking Ben Gurion airport and leading to a brief halt in air traffic, according to its spokesperson. Israel, in turn, appears prepared to retaliate with even greater intensity.

Israeli Air Force Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar threatened: “This is our fourth strike in Yemen, and we aren’t finished yet.”

Sana’a threatened back, vowing that the “response will be soon and that the Israeli aggression will not go unpunished.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed “grave concern” over the situation. “The Secretary-General remains deeply concerned about the risk of further escalation in the region and continues to urge all to exercise utmost restraint,” said Guterres’s spokesperson in a statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was acting “on behalf of the international community” by attacking targets in Yemen, accusing the Houthis of threatening international shipping and commercial lanes. “After Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis are nearly the last remaining arm of Iran's axis of evil,” he continued. “They are learning—and will continue to learn—the hard way that whoever harms Israel pays a very heavy price.”

The Houthis have remained defiant despite these threats. “The government and its military and security forces continue to work tirelessly to defend the rights, dignity and security of the Yemeni people,” said Hashem Sharaf Addin, Sana’a government spokesperson and the Information Minister, in a statement posted on X. “We also confirm that our support for the oppressed Palestinian people will continue until the aggression on Gaza stops and the siege on its people is lifted.”

Yemen has been devastated by nearly a decade of war waged by a Saudi-led coalition, backed by the United States, which has severely damaged the country’s fragile civilian infrastructure. The United Nations has previously described Yemen as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. For over two years, a UN-brokered truce between Yemen and Saudi Arabia has allowed fuel imports and the reopening of Sana’a airport in exchange for an end to Houthi missile attacks on Saudi Arabia.

On December 19, Israel launched at least seven strikes on the Ras Isa oil terminal, Al-Salif, and the ports in Hodeidah, Yemen’s main entry point for goods, targeting tugboats essential for mooring and berthing ships. Simultaneous airstrikes on the capital, Sana’a, hit two main electricity plants, igniting fuel storage facilities and cutting electricity to millions in the city.

No civilian casualties were reported. Residents confirmed that electricity was restored later that day, and officials stated that port operations returned to normal.

The Israeli army reported that it struck military targets “used by the Houthi forces for military purposes” on December 19. “The strikes degrade the Houthi terrorist regime, preventing it from exploiting the targets for military and terrorist purposes, including the smuggling of Iranian weapons to the region,” the Israeli military said.

Locals across Yemen, however, see the strikes as primarily harming civilians. Muhammad Alwi, a resident of Hodeidah, stated that destroying tugboats would disrupt port traffic and result in heavy fines, ultimately burdening citizens. “This attack harms no one but the people and their livelihoods,” Alwi said. Mosa Al-Juraf, a 41-year-old resident of southern Sana’a, noted that electricity was briefly cut off due to the airstrikes but was restored later that same day. “This is a barbaric attack. This is a civilian facility, and the entire population benefits from it, not just specific individuals,” Al-Juraf said.

“It’s tragic that U.S.-backed Israeli attacks are now escalating against civilian infrastructure in yet another country in the region,” Erik Sperling, the executive director at Just Foreign Policy, told Drop Site News. “Yemen was already facing a dire humanitarian crisis, and now Israel appears intent on collectively punishing civilians to pressure the authorities in Sana’a.”

Amid the Israeli war on Gaza, the Houthis have pledged support for Palestine and have targeted ships that they claim are owned by Israel or have connections to the country, as they transit Yemen’s Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea. They have also launched far-reaching drone and missile attacks on Israel, pledging to continue until it ends its war on Gaza.

In response, the United States has formed a military coalition to safeguard maritime traffic through Yemeni waterways and target Houthi military capabilities that threaten trade and regional allies. Despite these efforts, Houthi attacks have grown more sophisticated, evading Israel's air defense systems. Two days after Israel’s strikes on Yemen, the United States said it had targeted “a missile storage facility and a command-and-control facility operated by Iran-backed Houthis” in Sana’a. The strike hit Faj Attan, a mountain known for its weapons storage facilities, previously bombed hundreds of times during the Saudi campaign.

On December 22, the Houthis claimed responsibility for launching missile and drone attacks on U.S. marine assets in the Red Sea. U.S. CENTCOM reported intercepting multiple drones and an anti-ship cruise missile during the operation but admitted that one fighter jet was downed in a friendly fire incident. That same day, the Houthis attacked Israel’s capital, launching a missile that reportedly evaded air defenses and hit an open area. The Israel Air Defense (IAD) stated it was investigating the incident and implementing lessons learned to improve interception capabilities. “We emphasize that air defense is not hermetic and that Home Front Command instructions must continue to be followed,” IAD added.

Sperling, a former congressional staffer who has worked on Yemen policy since 2015, argued that the U.S. and Israel face a choice: further escalate in an attempt to deter the Houthis or end the war in Gaza. “Even Biden’s Yemen Envoy [Tim] Lenderking—the most influential anti-Houthi activist in the world—acknowledged that ending the war on Gaza would likely bring an end to Houthi attacks on Israel and its commercial shipping,” Sperling said in an interview.

In the past month, representatives for the United States have been meeting Yemeni parties opposed to the Houthis to discuss ways of confronting the group. Israel killing the top leaders of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon has emboldened anti-Houthi parties backed by Saudi Arabia and the United States. Though the factions are unlikely to form a unified front, the developments seriously threaten the UN brokered truce that ended the Houthi missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in return for easing fuel and goods imports to Yemen.

The Houthis have said they will not be deterred by Israeli or American attacks and will persist in targeting Israel. On December 23, the Houthis launched two drone attacks on Israel, which the IDF claimed to have intercepted. Following these attacks, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened to turn Hodeidah and Sana’a into zones of destruction comparable to Gaza, Lebanon, and Tehran. “We will target Houthi infrastructure and eliminate their leaders, as we did with Haniyeh, Sinwar, and Nasrallah,” Katz declared, referring to Hamas and Lebanese leaders killed during the Gaza war.

At midnight on December 24, the Israeli Air Force said it intercepted another missile launched from Yemen. Footage shared on social media suggested the missile may have reached its target.

“The U.S.-backed Israeli strikes on critical infrastructure like air and sea ports show how useful an extremist Israel is for US regional designs,” said Sperling. “U.S. officials have long sought to use these ports for leverage but largely stopped short of military attacks, fearing condemnation from the world and from Congress. Now, they can give Israel the weapons and intelligence for these war crimes, allowing U.S. officials to focus their attention on urging Gulf proxies inside Yemen to relaunch their ground war against the Sana’a government.”