Israel Conducts Huge Airstrikes Targeting Houthis At International Airport & Across Yemen

Israel has launched major aerial attacks on Yemen on Thursday, just on heels of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatening to destroy Houthi infrastructure and hunt down its leaders. "I have instructed our forces to destroy the infrastructure of Houthis because anyone who tries to harm us will be struck with full force," Netanyahu told parliament, following a Houthi ballistic missile strike on Tel Aviv Saturday.

"We will continue to crush the forces of evil with strength and ingenuity, even if it takes time," Netanyahu has said of the new offensive over the skies of Yemen. The Saturday attack incident had wounded 16 Israelis.

"A short time ago, the Air Force attacked targets of the Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen, both on the coastline and in Sana’a," Netanyahu continued.

He directly called out Iran in the new remarks, given the Iranian have long supplied the Shia Houthi rebels. "We are determined to cut off this terror arm of the Iranian axis of evil. We will persist in this until we complete the job," the Israeli leader said. This strongly suggests more such attacks to come in the next days.

The new Israeli air strikes have hit the international airport in Yemen's capital Sanaa as well as the Red Sea port of Hudaydah, which has been a frequent focus on the Western coalition's own intermittent air campaign. 

An IDF statement has claimed the new operation hit only "military infrastructure" at Sanaa International Airport, the Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations, as well as military targets at Al-Hudaydah, Salif, and Ras Kanatib ports on the country's west coast.

"These infrastructures were used by the Houthi terror regime to transfer Iranian weapons to the region and for the entry of senior Iranian officials," the IDF has additionally said.

An Al Jazeera correspondent in the region speculates this will only lead to stepped up attacks on Israel out of Yemen:

Yemeni journalist Hussain al-Bukhaiti told Al Jazeera the attack on the airport in the capital Sanaa targeted one of its control towers, disrupting operations.

"All Israeli attacks … whether its against Yemen or Gaza, they [Yemeni forces] will treat as an escalation. And I believe … the Yemeni army may conduct a major attack against Israel," he added.

Israel is still operating in Gaza, but with the Hezbollah ceasefire holding in Lebanon, and with Syria unable to pose a threat given Assad's ouster, it looks like Netanyahu is indeed ready to take a full-force fight to the Houthis. He is vowing also to 'hunt' down Houthi leadership.

It remains that after over a year of the Western naval coalition unable to restore safety to the Red Sea shipping corridor, Israel is going to have an uphill battle trying to stop the Houthi threat with mere aerial power. 

Regional war correspondent Elijah Magnier observes the following of these new attacks: "Israel has so far lacked a military bank of targets in Yemen, as evidenced by the bombing of Saada, Sanaa airport, Hodeida and civilian infrastructure, mainly ports and power stations."

"Non-confirmed information about NATO ships participated or/and coordinated the attack with Israel. Israel has no problem killing civilians because of its immoral and unethical ideology," Magnier continues. "However, in the coming weeks, all of Yemen's old and current enemies will be sharing intelligence with Israel for future attacks."