The Israeli Air Force bombed Houthi leadership targets in Sanaa during a high-level meeting, in one of the boldest strikes yet against Iran-backed militias.
The Israeli Air Force launched a dramatic series of airstrikes on Thursday against high-value Houthi leadership targets in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, striking while the group’s leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi delivered an address.
A senior security source said the primary target was a cabinet-style gathering of top Houthi figures, including military commanders and ministers. “We estimate that we succeeded,” the official said, adding that Israel believes both the Houthi Defense Minister and Chief of Staff were eliminated in the strike. The latter had already been wounded in a previous Israeli attack. Abdul-Malik al-Houthi himself was reportedly not present.
The IDF confirmed the strike, stating: “The Houthi terrorist organization has been operating under Iranian direction and funding in order to harm the State of Israel and its allies, undermining regional stability and disrupting global freedom of navigation. The IDF is operating decisively against the Houthi terrorist regime, while simultaneously intensifying strikes against Hamas in Gaza, and will continue to act to remove any threat to Israeli citizens.”
According to foreign reports, Israeli jets struck safe houses where senior Houthi officials were believed to be hiding. Hezbollah-affiliated al-Mayadeen reported over ten separate strikes across the capital.
The decision to strike was approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following consultations with Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, and senior military commanders.
Katz issued a chilling warning: “As we warned the Houthis in Yemen, after the Plague of Darkness comes the Plague of the Firstborn. Whoever raises a hand against Israel — his hand will be cut off.”
This was the second Israeli strike in Yemen in less than a week. On Sunday, fourteen Israeli fighter jets dropped nearly 40 munitions on targets in the Sanaa area, including the presidential palace complex, the Asar and Hizaz power plants, and a military fuel depot.
The IDF said those strikes were retaliation for repeated Houthi attacks on Israel, including the launch of ballistic missiles and drones.
Thursday’s operation marks a new escalation in Israel’s shadow war against Iran’s regional proxies — expanding from Gaza and Lebanon deep into Yemen, at the very heart of the Houthis’ command structure.
