According to the Israeli army radio, security assessments indicated that the targeted Houthi leaders were meeting in Sana'a to watch a televised address by the group's leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.
For its part, Israel's Channel 12 reported that the attack had been planned since the beginning of this week and targeted "prominent Houthi political figures."
In an official statement, the Israeli occupation army announced that the air force carried out precision strikes targeting "military targets belonging to the Houthi regime" in the capital, Sanaa.
Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz wrote on Twitter that "whoever raises a hand against Israel, we will cut it off," in a direct threat following the attack.
In contrast, Nasr al-Din Amer, deputy head of the Houthi media authority, denied that leaders in Sana'a had been targeted, saying via the X platform: "What is happening is an attack on civilian objects and the Yemeni people because of their supportive stances toward Gaza."
He described the raids as "a failure, like their predecessors," stressing that "Yemeni operations and support for Gaza will not stop until the aggression stops and the siege on the Strip is lifted."
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The Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV reported that the attack coincided with a televised speech by Abdulmalik al-Houthi, referring to "an Israeli aggression targeting the capital, Sanaa," without providing further details.
Later, the September 26 website, the spokesman for the group's Ministry of Defense, reported that "the Israeli aggression targeted Sana'a with more than 10 consecutive raids," without specifying the locations bombed.
Local residents told Anadolu Agency that they heard violent explosions rocking several areas of the capital, which has been under Houthi control since 2014.
The Houthis launch attacks on Israel using missiles and drones, in addition to targeting ships linked to or heading toward it. They claim that their attacks are in response to the ongoing Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip.
With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The genocide left 62,895 Palestinians dead, 158,927 wounded, most of them children and women, more than 9,000 missing, hundreds of thousands displaced, and a famine that claimed the lives of 313 Palestinians, including 119 children
