Situation at a glance: Israel intensifies counterattacks in Yemen

Israel has stepped up its counterstrikes against the last militia backed by arch-enemy Iran after repeated rocket attacks by the Houthis in Yemen. According to the Israeli army, the air force attacked Houthi infrastructure at the international airport in the capital Sanaa as well as targets in several ports, including Hodeidah, and two power plants. According to the Houthi-controlled Ministry of Health, six people were killed and more than 40 others were injured. Shortly afterwards, according to the Israeli army, another rocket was fired at Israel from Yemen during the night. It was intercepted outside the country’s borders.

Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike on a building in the north of the embattled Gaza Strip killed at least 50 people, according to the health authority controlled by the Islamist Hamas. The victims also included five employees of an adjacent clinic in the city of Beit Lahia, said a statement from the authority and the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, Hussam Abu Safeia. The information could not initially be independently verified. The Israeli army did not initially comment on the report when asked. The Houthis in Yemen say they are attacking Israel in support of the Islamist Hamas.

UN chief condemns escalation between Israel and Houthis

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on Israel and the Houthis to de-escalate. “Today’s Israeli airstrikes on Sanaa International Airport, Red Sea ports and power plants in Yemen are particularly alarming,” Guterres said, according to a spokeswoman in New York. “Secretary-General condemns escalation between Yemen and Israel”. During the attacks at the airport, a team from the World Health Organization led by WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also came under fire. “When we were about to board our flight from Sanaa about two hours ago, the airport was bombed,” said the general director on Platform X.

Israel accused the Houthi militia of using civilian infrastructure for military purposes, such as smuggling weapons from Iran. It has also repeatedly attacked Israel with drones and missiles. There had recently been frequent rocket alarms in the greater Tel Aviv area because of the attacks, including again on the night after Israel’s counterattack in Yemen. After the Israeli military has largely defeated the two main enemies on its borders – Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon – and its arch-enemy Iran also suffered a serious blow in Syria with the overthrow of ruler Bashar al-Assad, Israel is now turning its focus on the Houthis.

Netanyahu: Cut off arm of Iran’s axis of evil

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in the evening that Israel is determined to cut off the “arm of the Iranian axis of evil.” His country will stick with this task until it is completed. Foreign Minister Israel Katz also threatened to “hunt down” all leaders of the Houthi militia, as Israel has done elsewhere. However, the Houthis pose a difficult challenge for Israel’s armed forces, simply because of their geographical distance: Yemen is more than 2,000 kilometers away.

In addition, the militia is a “relatively new enemy” that Israeli intelligence has not yet focused on, the Wall Street Journal quoted analysts as saying. For most of the war in Gaza and Lebanon, Israel relied on a U.S.-backed coalition with forces near Yemen to deter the Houthis. However, these efforts were not successful, it said.

The latest airstrikes were Israel’s fourth counterstrike on targets in Yemen since the Gaza war broke out and the second in a week. According to informed sources at the international airport in the capital Sanaa, a control tower, a departure hall and large parts of the runways were hit. Eyewitnesses reported to dpa that the explosions could be felt throughout the city. The attacks occurred during a televised speech by militia leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi. He did not directly address the attacks in his speech.

The Israeli airstrikes followed about a year of “escalating actions” by the Houthis in the Red Sea and the region, “which pose a threat to civilians, regional stability and freedom of navigation,” Guterres said. He appealed to everyone to protect the civilian population and civil infrastructure. Air strikes on the Red Sea ports and Sanaa airport would seriously jeopardize humanitarian efforts “at a time when millions of people need life-saving assistance.”

Report: Infants die of hypothermia in Gaza

According to a report by the Palestinian news agency Wafa, three infants died of hypothermia in the embattled Gaza Strip. In view of the devastating destruction, many people are housed in tent camps. The German ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, wrote on of the war and Hamas terror, to demand winter supplies for the Gaza residents and a full release of the hostages.” Israel has been fighting the terrorist organization in Gaza since the unprecedented Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023. Since then, according to Palestinian figures, more than 45,300 people have been killed there.

Serious clashes again in Syria

Meanwhile, in Syria, there were more deaths in serious clashes between security forces of the interim government and supporters of the deposed ruler Bashar al-Assad. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that four security forces and several supporters of the former government were killed. Security forces raided a town near the city of Homs to find a man wanted in connection with murder and kidnapping cases, it said. According to official information, 14 interim government forces were killed in a suspected attack by Assad supporters in the Tartus governorate.