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

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel’s military on Tuesday launched airstrikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen that it said fully disabled the international airport in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

The strikes came hours before U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States would stop striking the Houthis, who he said had "capitulated" and agreed to stop targeting shipping in the Red Sea. The U.S. military under Trump separately had launched an intensified campaign of airstrikes targeting the Houthis since March 15.

Israel’s attacks Tuesday were its second round of airstrikes launched on targets in Yemen in retaliation for a Houthi missile strike Sunday on Israel's international airport.

The Houthis' satellite news channel al-Masirah confirmed that the airport in Sanaa was hit on Tuesday. Several power plants also were struck, Israel’s military said. Israeli television aired footage showing black plumes of smoke rising above the Sanaa skyline.

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

The strike against the Sanaa airport came shortly after Israel’s military warned on social media that people should leave the area immediately, saying that "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.

The Houthis have targeted Israel throughout the war in Gaza in solidarity with Palestinians there, while also targeting commercial and naval vessels on the Red Sea, raising their profile as the last member of Iran's self-described "Axis of Resistance" capable of launching regular attacks on Israel.

The U.N. special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said the latest 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.

Sunday’s missile attack 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 Monday, Israel targeted 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.

In March, Trump had vowed to use "overwhelming lethal force" after the Houthis said they would resume attacks on ships sailing off Yemen in response to Israel's mounting another blockade on the Gaza Strip.

Trump told reporters Tuesday that the U.S. "will stop the bombings. They have capitulated, but more importantly, we will take their word that they say they will not be blowing up ships anymore." Trump added, "I think that's very positive. They were knocking out a lot of ships."

Oman’s foreign minister confirmed there was an agreement in a post Tuesday night on X saying that following discussions with the U.S. and the relevant authorities in Sana’a a ceasefire agreement was reached.

The post said that in future neither side will target the other, including American vessels in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, ensuring freedom of international commercial shipping. There was no mention of direct attacks on Israel, or Israeli attacks on Houthi targets.

There was no immediate Houthi comment.

Israel has repeatedly targeted 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.

Also Tuesday, Israel continued its strikes in Gaza. At least 18 people were killed, including children, when a school sheltering displaced people was hit in Bureij, according to Khalil Al- Dokran, spokesperson for al-Aqsa Hospital, where some of the bodies were taken.