An Israeli air strike has struck the Sanaa International Airport in Yemen’s capital, Israel’s military said.
The attack destroyed Yemeni Houthi infrastructure in several of the city’s locations, “leading to its complete shutdown”, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed.
Earlier on Tuesday, the IDF asked people to evacuate the airport, warning failure to stay away from the area “puts you in danger”. Israel previously carried out a strike on Sanaa’s airport last December.
The attack came a day after Israeli strikes on targets in the neighbouring city of Hudaydah. Israel had vowed to respond after a missile from the Iran-backed Houthi group struck the grounds of Israel’s main airport on Sunday.
Israel has launched several rounds of strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, including the targeting of a power plant and ports in January.
The Yemeni airport was being used by the Houthis to “transfer weapons and operatives”, according to the IDF statement.
Tuesday’s strikes targeted three civilian planes, the departures hall, the runway and a military air base, multiple airport sources told the Reuters news agency.
Several central power stations in Sanaa were also hit, Israel’s military said. The IDF claimed they were being used as a “significant electricity supply infrastructure” by the Iran-backed group.
The IDF added that the al-Imran cement factory in the north of Sanaa was also struck, a day after they attacked a different cement factory.
On Monday, the IDF said it attacked Houthi targets in the Hudaydah Port and the Bajil cement factory east of the city of Hudaydah.
It claimed that the port was used by the group as a “central supply source”, and for “the transfer of Iranian weapons”, while the cement factory functioned as a “significant economic resource”, and was used by the group to construct tunnels and infrastructure.
The port is the second-largest in the Red Sea after Aden, and is the entry point for about 80% of Yemen’s food imports.
At least four people were killed and 35 others were wounded during Monday’s attack, AFP news agency reported, citing the Houthis.
The Houthis blamed the US and Israel jointly for the attack, but a US defence official told the AFP news agency that their forces “did not participate” in the strikes on Yemen.
The missile fired towards Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv on Sunday morning landed next to an access road near the main terminal. Six people were injured, Israeli emergency services said.
Following the strike, the Houthis said they would impose “a comprehensive aerial blockade” on Israel by targeting airports in response to Israel’s plans to expand its military operations in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed retaliation against the Houthis for the airport attack, saying: “We attacked in the past, we will attack in the future.”
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