Aden (South24 Center)

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Israel launched a series of airstrikes on Thursday evening (August 28) on Sanaa and surrounding areas, in what Hebrew media described as “the largest and most significant” since the escalation against the Houthis began.

 

The strikes came amid a televised speech by the group’s leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi, who declared that his movement had succeeded in developing fragmentation warheads for “Palestine 2” missiles.

 

Israel Hayom reported that the raids targeted a closed meeting of several senior Houthi leaders in Sanaa, while other reports said the bombing struck safe houses and hideouts used by Houthi officials.

 

An Israeli security source confirmed that the operation was carried out with “precise intelligence guidance”, while local sources told ‘South24’ that at least 11 strikes hit Jabal Attan and areas south and west of Sanaa, while explosions were also heard in Amran governorate to the north.

 

According to Hebrew reports, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz monitored the operation from the fortified command room alongside IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir and the military leadership, while maintaining direct contact with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu through the “red line.”

 

Katz said after the strikes: “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.”

 

The Israeli army said in a statement that its air force launched a concentrated attack on a Houthi military target in Sanaa, adding that the Houthis, with Iranian direction, funding, and support, have since the start of the Iron Swords War been working to attack Israel and its allies, destabilize regional security, and threaten freedom of international navigation.

The statement confirmed that operations will continue with full force against the Houthis in parallel with the strikes on Hamas in Gaza.

Hours after the strikes, Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the military had dubbed its operation in Sanaa “Drop of Luck.” For their part, the Houthis rejected claims that senior leaders had been targeted. The group’s Defense Ministry issued a statement denying the reports, while senior Houthi official Nasr al-Din Amer said that “the information being circulated has no basis in truth.”

 

This escalation comes just one day after the Israeli army announced it had intercepted a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis from Yemen, which temporarily suspended flight operations at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv.

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Israeli authorities said the missile was successfully intercepted after alarms were activated in wide areas including Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and the Dead Sea region. Al-Masirah channel, run by the Houthis, broadcast footage claiming the missile reached Israeli airspace and forced millions of Israelis into shelters.

 

Al-Houthi’s announcement today of the group developing fragmentation warheads comes days after the Friday, August 22 attack, when the group launched a ballistic missile fitted with a cluster warhead toward central Israel.

 

The Jerusalem Post said that attack marked a dangerous shift in the conflict, being the first time the Houthis used cluster munitions that explode in the air and release dozens of bomblets, complicating interception and exposing gaps in Israel’s air defense system.

 

The analysis noted that this escalation reflects Iran’s determination to turn Yemen into a testing ground for advanced weapons as part of its strategy to exhaust Israeli defenses across multiple fronts.