Sanaa – The death toll from Israeli airstrikes targeting the Yemeni capital Sanaa and Al Jawf province has risen to 35 killed and 131 injured, according to an official statement from the Houthi-run Ministry of Health. 

Civil defense teams continue rescue operations amid fears of missing persons, with expectations that the toll may rise in the coming hours.

The strikes—described as the most intense since the escalation between Israel and the Houthis—hit military sites, propaganda centers, and fuel depots, according to the Israeli army, which claimed the attacks were in response to drone and missile launches from Yemen toward Israeli territory.

In contrast, the Houthi group denied that missile platforms were targeted, asserting that the airstrikes struck “purely civilian sites,” resulting in casualties among journalists, pedestrians, and local residents. 

Panic swept through Sanaa as eyewitnesses reported that the bombing hit a command-and-control hideout between two mountains, as well as the Houthi Ministry of Defense headquarters.

These strikes come less than two weeks after an Israeli air raid killed the Houthi-appointed Prime Minister and several ministers, marking an unprecedented escalation against the group’s leadership.