In the long shadow of Gaza, the skies over Sanaa were torn open on Sunday as Israeli warplanes struck Yemen's capital in retaliation for Houthi missile fire, killing six and wounding 86. What began as a distant war has drawn Yemen into its orbit, with the Iran-aligned Houthis casting their attacks on Israel and Red Sea shipping as acts of solidarity with Palestinians. The exchange is not an aberration but a rhythm — a cycle of strike and counterstrike that has now run for more than a year, with no horizon of resolution in sight.
Israeli strikes on Sanaa kill six as Gaza conflict spillover intensifies
Six people killed and 86 wounded in Israeli strikes on Sanaa; civilian infrastructure including power plants damaged affecting broader population.
We will not abandon our brothers in Gaza, whatever the sacrifices
Mark
Why does a conflict in Yemen matter to people following the Gaza war?
Mimi
Because the Houthis have explicitly tied their actions to Gaza. They're not fighting Israel over Yemen—they're fighting in solidarity with Palestinians. It's the same war, just fought from a different place.
Mark
But the Houthis control Yemen's capital. Aren't they also a domestic political force?
Mimi
Yes, absolutely. They control much of the country's population. But their foreign policy—their attacks on shipping, their missiles toward Israel—those are framed entirely through the Gaza lens. It's how they justify it to their own people.
Mark
The Israeli military called them a terrorist regime. How do the Houthis see themselves?
Mimi
As resistance fighters. They're Iran-aligned, which matters for understanding their backing and their capabilities. But they present their actions as defensive solidarity, not aggression. That framing is central to how they maintain support.
Mark
This new missile capability—how significant is that?
Mimi
It suggests they're getting better weapons, likely from Iran. If they can build missiles with multiple warheads that detonate on impact, they're becoming harder to defend against. That's why the Israeli official specifically noted it was the first of its kind from Yemen.
Mark
What happens next? Does this cycle end?
Mimi
Not based on what either side is saying. The Houthis just promised to keep going. Israel just demonstrated it will strike civilian infrastructure. Both sides have reasons to continue—political, military, ideological. This is a long conflict now.
The Pulse
- A new Houthi ballistic missile carrying multiple sub-munitions — a weapon never before fired from Yemeni soil — raised the stakes dramatically just days before Israel responded with force.
- Israeli warplanes struck not only military compounds but power plants and fuel storage in Sanaa, sending a message that civilian infrastructure is now part of the calculus.
- Six people are dead and 86 wounded in a capital city that has become a front in a war it did not start, its population absorbing the consequences of a conflict rooted in Gaza.
- Houthi leadership responded to the strikes not with retreat but with defiance, pledging on social media that Palestinians in Gaza would not be abandoned whatever the cost.
- The cycle of retaliation is accelerating in both frequency and sophistication, with neither side showing any signal that it intends to step back from the edge.
In the long shadow of Gaza, the skies over Sanaa were torn open on Sunday as Israeli warplanes struck Yemen's capital in retaliation for Houthi missile fire, killing six and wounding 86. What began as a distant war has drawn Yemen into its orbit, with the Iran-aligned Houthis casting their attacks on Israel and Red Sea shipping as acts of solidarity with Palestinians. The exchange is not an aberration but a rhythm — a cycle of strike and counterstrike that has now run for more than a year, with no horizon of resolution in sight.
On Sunday morning, Israeli warplanes struck Sanaa in direct response to Houthi missile fire, killing six people and wounding 86 others. The targets included a military compound near the presidential palace, two power generation facilities, and a fuel storage depot — infrastructure whose destruction ripples far beyond any military calculation.
The strikes are the latest chapter in a conflict that has been unfolding for more than a year, a direct spillover from the Gaza war that began in October 2023. The Houthis, an Iran-aligned group controlling much of Yemen, have used Gaza as justification for sustained attacks on Israel and commercial shipping in the Red Sea. Just two days before Sunday's strikes, they launched a ballistic missile toward Israeli territory — one an Israeli Air Force official described as carrying multiple sub-munitions designed to detonate on impact, representing a new and troubling capability.
Israel framed its response as necessary retaliation against what it called a terrorist regime firing both missiles and drones at Israeli territory. The Houthis framed their own actions in the language of solidarity. Senior official Abdul Qader al-Murtada declared after the strikes that the group would not abandon Palestinians in Gaza, whatever the cost.
Most Houthi missiles fired toward Israel have been intercepted, but the attacks are growing more frequent and more sophisticated. Israel has struck Houthi-held areas before, including the port city of Hodeidah. What Sunday's strikes make plain is that the conflict has deepened: new weapons are being tested, population centers are being targeted, and neither side has offered any sign that the cycle is close to breaking.
On Sunday morning, Israeli warplanes struck the Yemeni capital of Sanaa in a direct response to missile fire from Houthi militants. The attack killed six people and left 86 others wounded, according to a spokesperson from the Houthi Health Ministry. The strikes targeted what the Israeli military described as a military compound that houses the presidential palace, along with two power generation facilities and a fuel storage depot.
This exchange represents the latest chapter in a conflict that has been running for more than a year—a direct spillover from the broader war in Gaza that began in October 2023. The Houthis, an Iran-aligned militant group that controls much of Yemen's population, have used the Gaza conflict as justification for a sustained campaign against Israel and international shipping in the Red Sea. On Friday, just two days before the Israeli strikes, the Houthis announced they had launched a ballistic missile toward Israeli territory. An Israeli Air Force official noted on Sunday that this particular missile appeared to carry multiple sub-munitions designed to detonate on impact, and suggested it represented a new capability—the first time such a weapon had been fired from Yemen.
The Israeli military framed the Sunday strikes as a necessary response to what it called repeated attacks by what it termed the Houthi terrorist regime. The statement emphasized that the Houthis had been launching both surface-to-surface missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles toward Israeli territory in recent days. From the Houthi perspective, however, these actions carry a different meaning. Abdul Qader al-Murtada, a senior official within the Houthi leadership, responded to the strikes by declaring on social media that the group would not abandon Palestinians in Gaza, whatever the cost.
The pattern of attack and counterattack has become routine over the past year. Since the Gaza war began, the Houthis have targeted commercial vessels moving through the Red Sea, framing these attacks as acts of solidarity with Palestinians. Most of the missiles they have fired toward Israel have been intercepted by Israeli air defenses, but the frequency and sophistication of the attacks appear to be increasing. Israel has responded with its own strikes on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, including attacks on the strategically important port city of Hodeidah.
What makes Sunday's strikes significant is not just the casualties or the targets hit, but what they signal about the trajectory of this conflict. The Houthis have demonstrated new technical capabilities. Israel has shown it will strike deep into Yemen's population centers. And the Houthis have made clear they intend to continue, regardless of the consequences. The cycle shows no signs of breaking.
Notable Quotes
Israel must know that we will not abandon our brothers in Gaza, whatever the sacrifices— Abdul Qader al-Murtada, senior Houthi official
The strikes were conducted in response to repeated attacks by the Houthi terrorist regime against the State of Israel and its civilians— Israeli military statement
Want the full story?
Read the original at Independent.ie ↗
War & Conflict