The China Mail - Huthis say US bombed Yemen after strike on Israel's main airport

The Huthi-run Saba news agency said the strikes included two on Arbaeen Street in the capital and the airport road, blaming them on "American aggression".

Sixteen people were wounded, Saba cited the Iran-backed rebels' health ministry as saying.

The accusation came after Israel said a missile fired from Yemen struck inside the perimeter of Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv on Sunday.

The Huthis claimed responsibility, saying they fired a "hypersonic ballistic missile" at Ben Gurion, Israel's main international gateway.

The missile gouged a wide crater in the ground near an airport parking lot, wounding six people and forcing airlines to suspend flights.

The Huthis, who control swathes of Yemen including the capital, have launched missiles and drones targeting Israel and Red Sea shipping throughout the Gaza war, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a tough response against the Huthis, as well as its main backer Iran, over the attack.

In a video published on Telegram, Netanyahu said Israel had "acted against" the Huthis in the past and "will act in the future".

"It will not happen in one bang, but there will be many bangs," he added, without elaborating.

On social media platform X, Netanyahu said Israel would also respond to Iran at "a time and place of our choosing".

Hours later, the Huthis threatened to launch more such strikes and warned airlines to cancel their flights to Israeli airports.

- Iran denial -

Iran on Monday denied supporting the attack, calling it an "independent decision" by the Yemeni rebels taken in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Reacting to Netanyahu's threats, the Islamic republic warned it would retaliate to any attack against its territory.

"Iran underlines (its) firm determination... to defend itself," the Iranian foreign ministry said, warning Israel and the United States of "consequences".

Following Sunday's attack, an Israeli police video showed officers standing on the edge of a wide hole in the ground.

"You can see the area just behind us: a crater was formed here, several dozen metres wide and several dozen metres deep," central Israel's police chief, Yair Hezroni, said in the recording.

"This is the first time" that a missile has directly struck inside the airport perimeter, an Israeli military spokesperson told AFP.

An AFP journalist inside the airport during the attack said he heard a "loud bang" at around 9:35 am (0635 GMT), adding that the "reverberation was very strong".

"Security staff immediately asked hundreds of passengers to take shelter, some in bunkers," the journalist said.

- 'Panic' -

One passenger said the attack, which came shortly after air raid sirens sounded across parts of Israel, caused "panic".

"It is crazy to say but since October 7 we are used to this," said the 50-year-old, who did not want to be named, referring to the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.

Flights resumed after being halted briefly, with the aviation authority saying on Sunday that Ben Gurion was "open and operational".

"This week we are issuing tens of thousands of orders to our reservists to intensify and expand our operation in Gaza," said army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir.

The army would destroy all Hamas infrastructure, "both on the surface and underground", he added.

Israel's security cabinet, in a meeting overnight, approved a plan to expand military operations in Gaza, including the "conquest" of the Palestinian territory, an official said Monday.

US strikes on Yemen's Huthi rebels began under former president Joe Biden, but have intensified under his successor Donald Trump.

W.Cheng--ThChM