JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military bombed the airport in Yemen’s rebel-held capital Tuesday, claiming to have disabled the airfield in an attack that left commercial aircraft burning on the tarmac as its fighter jets struck power plants and other targets.
The rare daytime attack on Sanaa, held by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels since 2014, came as part of a second day of Israeli airstrikes in response to a Houthi ballistic missile striking the grounds of Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv. The Houthis described the Israeli attacks as killing at least seven people and wounding 74 others over two days.
But the future of American attacks on the Houthis, who have pledged to continue to target Israel, was thrown into question after U.S. President Donald Trump said America would stop striking the Houthis. Trump described the rebels as having “capitulated” and agreed to stop targeting shipping in the Red Sea, though the rebels did not specifically acknowledge such a pledge.
“We indirectly informed the Americans that the continued escalation will affect the criminal Trump’s visit to the region, and we have not informed them of anything else,” said Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the Houthi’s supreme political council, in a statement carried by the rebel-controlled SABA news agency early Wednesday. Trump is due to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates next week.
Badr al-Busaidi, the foreign minister of Oman who mediated between the U.S. and the Houthis, also is mediating between America and Iran over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.