Dozens of Israeli Air Force planes, working off intelligence provided by the IDF, carried out a wave of attacks on Thursday against facilities belonging to the Houthi regime in and around Sanaa, the Yemeni capital.
The strikes hit multiple high-level targets, including the Houthis’ General Staff Command Headquarters, compounds belonging to the group’s security and intelligence divisions, their military public relations offices, as well as training and weapons camps where Houthi fighters were located.
The IDF emphasized that the strikes were retaliation for repeated assaults carried out by the Houthis against Israel and its citizens, specifically attacks involving UAVs and missiles fired toward Israeli territory.
“The security and intelligence apparatus is one of the internal security mechanisms of the Houthi terrorist regime; it takes part in terrorist activities and directly contributes to military actions against the State of Israel that undermine stability in the Middle East. The security and intelligence apparatus is also involved in repressing regime opponents through the use of political prisons and torture,” the IDF noted in its statement.
The military further explained that “the military camps that were struck are used by the Houthi terrorist regime to store weapons and to plan and execute terrorist attacks against the State of Israel. The Houthi terrorist regime operate under Iranian direction and funding in order to harm the State of Israel and its allies. The regime exploits the maritime domain to project force and carry out terror activity against the global shipping and trade routes.”
This operation marked the fifteenth Israeli strike in Yemen. Roughly twenty aircraft participated, releasing more than sixty-five bombs on seven separate sites—five command centers and two weapons storage facilities—located 2,200 kilometers from Israel. It was the largest number of munitions used in a single strike against the Houthis to date.
Defense Minister Yisroel Katz confirmed the operation, saying: “We have just delivered a powerful strike against multiple terror targets belonging to the Houthi terror organization in Sanaa as part of operation ‘Package Delivered.’ The IDF struck several military camps, including a Houthi General Staff camp, eliminated dozens of Houthi terrorists, and destroyed UAV and weapons stockpiles. As I promised yesterday, whoever harms us will be struck sevenfold.”
The decision to carry out the strike was made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while traveling to New York aboard the “Wing of Zion” aircraft. He received ongoing updates on the operation from the Defense Minister, the IDF Chief of Staff, and his Military Secretary.
In a related incident, a UAV struck a tourist center near the Mall Hayam mall just before the end of Rosh Hashanah, leaving more than twenty injured.
Three of the victims were critically hurt and flown from Yoseftal Hospital in Eilat to Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva for further treatment.
The drone exploded near the Club Hotel in central Eilat. According to MDA, casualties were reported inside the hotel lobby as well as in a nearby restaurant.
{Matzav.com Israel}
