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- The Israeli airstrikes in Yemen that killed at least 35 people and wounded more than 130 others also caused damaged to Yemen’s national museum and other historical sites in its capital city
SANAA: Yemen’s Houthi Health Ministry said on Thursday the number of casualties in Israel’s Wednesday attacks rose to 46 people killed and 165 wounded.
Israel struck the Yemeni capital Sanaa and the northern province of Al-Jawf, the latest in a series of attacks and counterstrikes between Israel and the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, part of a spillover from the war in Gaza.
The airstrikes caused damaged to Yemen's national museum and other historical sites in its capital city, the Houthi Ministry of Culture said Thursday.
The status of the artifacts inside the museum is still unclear but thousands of historical artifacts are at risk of damage, according to the ministry. Associated Press photos and video footage from the site of the strike showed damage to the building’s facade.
The ministry called on the UN cultural agency UNESCO to condemn the attack and to intervene to help protect this historical building and its artifacts.
Most of those killed were in Sanaa, the capital, where a military headquarters and a fuel station were hit on Wednesday, the Houthi-run health ministry said.
Israel has previously launched waves of airstrikes in response to the Houthis’ firing of missiles and drones at Israel. The Iran-backed Houthis say they are supporting Hamas and the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and on Sunday they sent a drone that breached Israel’s multilayered air defenses and slammed into a southern airport.
It was the latest in a series of attacks and counterstrikes between Israel and the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, part of a spillover from the war in Gaza.
The attack followed an August 30 strike on Sanaa that killed the prime minister of the Houthi-run government and several ministers, in the first such assault to target senior officials.
“The strikes were carried out in response to attacks led by the Houthi terror regime against the State of Israel, during which unmanned aerial vehicles and surface-to-surface missiles were launched toward Israeli territory,” the Israeli military said.
Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli military said it intercepted two launches from Yemen, a missile and a drone, operations the Houthis claimed responsibility for later.
The group’s military spokesperson said the operation was also “within the framework of responding to the Israeli aggression against our country.”
Houthis, who control the most populous parts of Yemen, have attacked vessels in the Red Sea in what they describe as acts of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
They have also fired missiles toward Israel, most of which have been intercepted. Israel has responded with strikes on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, including the vital Hodeidah port.