Israel's military says it has fully disabled Yemen's main airport with airstrikes

JERUSALEM — Israel's military said Tuesday it launched airstrikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen that fully disabled the country's international airport in the capital, Sanaa.

The strikes came after Israel launched similar attacks on Monday in retaliation for a Houthi missile strike the previous day on Israel's international airport.

The Houthis' satellite news channel al-Masirah reported the strikes, confirming the airport had been hit. Several power plants were also struck, Israel's military said.

Footage aired on Israeli television showed thick black plumes of smoke rising above the skyline of Sanaa. Social media video purported to show multiple strikes around Sanaa, with black smoke rising as the thumps of the blast echoed against the surrounding mountains.

Three people were killed and 38 wounded from the strike, according to the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency, which quoted health officials.

The strike came shortly after the military issued a warning on social media for people to evacuate the area of Yemen's international airport.

''We urge you to immediately evacuate the area of the airport and to warn anyone nearby to distance themselves immediately,'' spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on social media Tuesday, attaching a map of Sanaa International Airport. ''Failure to evacuate the area endangers your lives.''

Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, said the strike should be seen as a warning to the ''head of the Iranian octopus,'' which he said bears direct responsibility for attacks by the Houthis against Israel.

On Monday, Israel targeted Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen's Red Sea province of Hodeida, killing at least one person and wounding 35. The rebels' media office said at least six strikes hit the crucial Hodeida port, while others hit a cement factory in the district of Bajil, 55 kilometers (34 miles) northeast of Hodeida. The Houthi-run Health Ministry said the strikes killed at least four people and wounded 39 others.

The Houthis on Sunday launched a missile that struck an access road near Israel's main airport near Tel Aviv, briefly halting flights and commuter traffic. Four people were slightly injured. It was the first time a missile struck the grounds of Ben Gurion airport since the October 2023 start of the war in Gaza. While most missiles launched by the Houthis have been intercepted, some have penetrated Israel's missile defense systems, causing damage.

On Tuesday, the U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said the strikes carried out on Israel and Yemen's airport marked a ''grave escalation in an already fragile and volatile regional context.'' He urged the parties to show restraint.

The Houthis have targeted Israel throughout the war in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, raising their profile as the last member of Iran's self-described ''Axis of Resistance'' capable of launching regular attacks on Israel.

The U.S. military under President Donald Trump has launched an intensified campaign of airstrikes targeting the Houthis since March 15.

On Tuesday, however, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was calling off further airstrikes against the Houthis, saying the rebel faction has ‘capitulated' and doesn't want to fight anymore.

He told reporters in the Oval Office that the U.S. "will stop the bombings. They have capitulated but more importantly, we will take their word.'' The president added, ''I think that's very positive. They were knocking out a lot of ships.''

Israel has repeatedly struck against the rebels in Yemen. It struck Hodeida and its oil infrastructure in July after a Houthi drone attack killed one person and wounded 10 in Tel Aviv.

In September, Israel struck Hodeida again, killing at least four people after a missile targeted Ben Gurion airport as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was returning to the country. In December, Israeli strikes killed at least nine people in Hodeida.

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Gambrell contributed from Dubai. Julia Frankel in Jerusalem, Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.