SANAA: Thirty-five people were killed in Israeli strikes on Houthi-held areas of Yemen on Wednesday.

“The number of martyrs and injured among citizens from the treacherous Zionist crime has risen… to 35 martyrs and 131 wounded,” the rebels’ health ministry spokesman Anees Alasbahi posted on X, adding it was not a final toll.

The Houthi armed forces’ media operation in Sanaa, the rebel-held capital, was hit in the attacks, along with a Houthi complex in Jawf province, the group said.

Israel has launched repeated attacks on Houthi targets during the Gaza conflict, as the Iran-backed rebels fire missiles and drones at Israel and Red Sea shipping, claiming solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

“Civil defence, ambulances and rescue teams are still searching for the missing,” he added.

The toll included seven dead and 100 wounded at the media building in Sanaa, and two dead and 20 wounded in Jawf, which borders Saudi Arabia, Alasbahi said.

A large plume of grey smoke billowed above Sanaa as the strikes echoed across the city, which has been controlled by the Houthis for more than a decade.

High-profile assassinations

The Houthis’ prime minister Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi, nine ministers and two cabinet officials were killed as they attended a government meeting in the Sanaa area last month.

The killings were the most high-profile assassinations of Houthi officials during nearly two years of hostilities with Israel over the Gaza war.

The latest air strikes come after a drone launched from Yemen struck Ramon airport in southern Israel on Sunday, wounding one person.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said journalists working for the September 26 and al-Yaman newspapers were among those killed at the “Moral Guidance Headquarters” in Sanaa.

The Israeli military also said it struck the armed forces’ media operations, among other facilities.

The targets included “military camps in which operatives of the terrorist regime were identified, the Houthis’ military public relations headquarters and a fuel storage facility that was used by the terrorist regime”, an Israeli military statement said.

The Huthis’ Al-Masirah television said the strikes in Jawf hit a Central Bank branch building in the city of Al-Hazm, wounding employees.

They said they fought back with air defences, without giving details. Since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023, the Houthis have launched repeated drone and missile attacks against Israel.

In response, Israel has carried out rounds of retaliatory strikes in Yemen, mainly targeting infrastructure such as ports, power stations and the international airport in Sanaa. The strikes are the latest in a series of attacks and counterstrikes between Israel and Houthi militants in Yemen, part of a spillover from the conflict in Gaza.

Sanaa residents said the attack had targeted a hideout between two mountains that is used as a command and control headquarters.

The extent of any damage was not immediately clear. The Israeli strikes also targeted the Houthi defence ministry, witnesses said.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2025