December 2024 Israeli Airstrikes in Yemen

From the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, the Houthis — an Iran-backed terrorist movement controlling areas where nearly two-thirds of Yemen's population lived — launched missiles and drones at Israel and attacked international shipping in the Red Sea.[4] The U.S. Department of State's 2024 terrorism report states that the Houthis continued attacks on international maritime shipping, disrupting trade and freedom of navigation, and launched missiles and drones into Israel in support of Hamas and in response to Israeli operations in Gaza.[4] The Congressional Research Service records that more than 100 Houthi attacks on Israel, international shipping, and U.S. and partner naval vessels in the Red Sea region occurred between October 2023 and January 2025.[5]

Israel had struck Houthi targets twice before December 2024, on July 20 and September 29, 2024.[2] The December strikes followed continued Houthi launches, including a December 24 ballistic missile directed at Tel Aviv that Israeli air defenses intercepted; Defense Minister Israel Katz subsequently vowed that Israel would not allow the attacks to continue unchecked and would begin targeting Houthi leaders.[2]

In the early hours of December 19, the Israeli Air Force launched what was later identified as Operation White City, a strike package planned several weeks in advance.[1][6] Fourteen fighter jets — supported by refueling aircraft and reconnaissance planes — flew approximately 2,000 kilometers and dropped more than 60 munitions in two waves.[6] The first wave struck port facilities, while the second targeted energy infrastructure farther inland.[7][8]

The first wave hit the Ras Issa oil terminal and the ports of Hodeidah and Salif at around 3:15 a.m.; the second wave struck Sana'a at around 4:30 a.m.[8] Targets in the capital included the Haziz and D'Habban power stations, while coastal targets included fuel and oil facilities.[9][8] Eight tugboats used to guide vessels into the ports were also destroyed.[8] The IDF said the facilities had been used for Houthi military and terrorist activity, including the smuggling of Iranian weapons, and that the strikes were intended to degrade Houthi capabilities. Israeli reporting said the destruction of the specialized tugboats could shut down or severely impede the targeted ports.[8]

While the operation was already underway, the Houthis launched a ballistic missile toward central Israel at approximately 2:35 a.m.[6][8] Israel's Arrow system intercepted it outside Israeli airspace, but the missile's warhead struck and destroyed an empty school building in Ramat Gan; no injuries were reported there.[2][8] The timing was coincidental, as Israeli aircraft were already en route before the missile was launched.[8]

One week later, on December 26, Israel launched Operation Grapevine Sounds, its largest airstrike in Yemen since the Gaza war began.[10][1] Approximately 25 aircraft — including fighters, reconnaissance planes, and tankers — flew roughly 4,000 kilometers round trip. IDF-released imagery showed F-15s from the 69th Squadron and F-16s from the 107th Squadron participating.[11][10]

Targets included Sana'a International Airport, the Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations, and infrastructure at the ports of Hodeidah, Salif, and Ras Kanatib.[12][13] Initial reports counted seven strikes at the airport and three at Hodeidah port, along with a strike on a power station near Sana'a.[13] The airport's main runway, control tower, and landing aids were struck. Aircraft at the airport, including civilian aircraft used by the Houthi government, were hit, and some aircraft caught fire.[12][10] The IDF stated that the targeted infrastructure had been used to transfer Iranian weapons into the region and facilitate the arrival of senior Iranian officials. Israeli reporting also framed the airport strike as a response to Houthi attempts to attack Ben Gurion International Airport.[13][3]

The strikes took place during a live televised address by Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, in which he declared that the Houthis would not stop firing at Israel.[12][13] Approximately 12 hours after the strikes, early on December 27, the Houthis launched additional ballistic missiles at Israel. Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam stated: "The Zionist regime should know that our people will not abandon their support for Palestine in the face of these attacks."[11]

Among the most widely reported details of the December 26 strikes was the presence of WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at Sana'a International Airport. Tedros had traveled to Yemen on a mission to negotiate the release of UN personnel detained by the Houthis since June 2024.[11][12] He reported that one member of his aircraft's crew was injured in the strikes and that the other UN staff with him were safe, though their departure was delayed pending repairs to the airport.[10] The airport's control tower was damaged, but Houthi officials later stated that technical teams restored operations and returned flights to normal "in record time."[14]

UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the strikes and noted that they occurred during a visit by a senior UN delegation.[15] Houthi spokesman Mohammad Abd al-Salam called the airport attack "a Zionist crime against the Yemeni people," while Israel maintained that the infrastructure was connected to Houthi military activity and Iranian weapons transfers.[14]

Casualty figures for both operations were reported primarily by Houthi-affiliated sources and were not independently verified. For the December 19 strikes, Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Huthi and the Houthi-run channel Al Masirah reported nine civilians killed — seven attributed to the strike on Salif port and two to the Ras Issa oil facility — along with unspecified additional wounded.[9][6] The Houthi government also claimed that thousands of families were left without electricity as a result of the strikes.[9]

Casualty reports for the December 26 operation varied across sources. Al Masirah was reported as giving a toll of three killed and 11 injured across Yemen, while The Jerusalem Post, also citing Al Masirah, reported three killed and 16 injured at the airport specifically.[16][12] Tedros reported that at least two people were said to have been killed at the airport and confirmed that one of his aircraft's crew members was injured.[10] A Maariv report listed five killed, 42 wounded, and three missing, while Ynet relayed the Houthi-aligned Yemeni government's figure of six civilians killed and 40 injured.[17][15] The sources do not reconcile these differing figures, and no independent verification of any toll was available.

Israeli officials stated that Israel would continue acting against the Houthis in response to attacks on Israel and threatened to target Houthi leaders.[5][2] By December 21, 2024 — between the two December operations — the IDF said the Houthis had launched more than 200 missiles and 170 unmanned aerial vehicles at Israel since October 2023.[2]

UN officials assessed that Israeli attacks on Houthi-controlled infrastructure had damaged critical civilian infrastructure in ways that affected the ability to unload humanitarian aid, though this assessment concerned Israeli operations generally and was not specific to the December strikes alone.[5] A Yemeni journalist quoted in Israeli media disputed the IDF's characterization that the December 19 strikes hit Houthi military sites, contending that they targeted power stations and oil facilities at ports.[18] The IDF's stated rationale — that the targeted airports, ports, and power stations served Houthi military purposes and Iranian weapons-transfer networks — was repeated in the cited reporting but was not independently established by it.[12][13]

The December 2024 strikes generated competing characterizations of the targets and their use. The IDF consistently described the struck facilities — ports, power stations, oil terminals, and the airport — as integral to Houthi military operations, including the smuggling of Iranian weapons and the transit of senior Iranian officials.[19][12] Houthi officials and aligned media framed the same infrastructure as civilian and essential and reported civilian casualties; the cited sources did not independently verify either the military use of each facility or the reported casualty counts.[9][14] Casualty figures across the two operations differed significantly between reports, and the available sources provide no basis for reconciling them.