On Thursday, August 28, Israeli military aircraft struck a military target of the Ansar Allah movement (the Houthis) near the Yemeni capital, Sana’a. The attack is reported to have been high-precision. Local residents witnessed powerful explosions and pillars of smoke.
This is already the second such strike on Sana’a in the past few days. The incident is part of a growing confrontation stretching from the Red Sea to the Eastern Mediterranean.
According to the official Israeli version, the strike was a response to a threat. Earlier that same day, Israeli air defense intercepted two drones launched from Yemen. The Houthis, who are supported by Iran, regularly attack Israel and international shipping in the Red Sea.
At the time of publication, there were no precise casualty figures. Eyewitnesses described the explosions as very powerful, comparing them to an earthquake. The likelihood of retaliatory attacks from the Houthis is assessed as high.
An unusual detail was the timing of the strike. It coincided with a live broadcast in which Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi was speaking. Some Israeli media, whose reports have not been confirmed by international agencies, report that the target was a meeting of high-ranking commanders of the group.
Just a few days earlier, on August 24, an Israeli strike on Sana’a resulted in the deaths of at least six people. Targets at that time were said to be an oil depot and a power station. The new raid confirms Israel’s readiness to strike at great distances from its borders.
For the Western world, this means increased risks for global trade. Houthi attacks on ships and Israeli counterstrikes destabilize a key maritime route from Asia to Europe via the Suez Canal. This leads to higher insurance rates and disruptions in supply chains.
The current strike is not the start of a full-scale war, but a clear warning. However, each such incident increases the risk of an escalation spiral, where retaliatory actions from both sides become increasingly severe.
