The Israeli military says its air force has carried out its most powerful strike in Yemen in response to the Houthi movement's repeated drone and missile attacks on Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said dozens of its aircraft bombed targets belonging to the Houthis' security and intelligence services, and military in the capital Sanaa.
The Houthi-run government's health ministry denounced what it called Israel's brutal crime, saying civilian facilities and residential buildings were hit and that eight people were killed.
It comes a day after 22 people were injured, two of them seriously, in a Houthi drone attack in the Israeli Red Sea resort of Eilat.
The Houthis have controlled much of north-western Yemen since they ousted the country's internationally recognised government from there 10 years ago, sparking a civil war.
They began attacking Israel and international shipping in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden shortly after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in October 2023, saying they were acting in support of the Palestinians.
Israel has carried out many rounds of air strikes in Yemen in retaliation for the hundreds of missiles and drones that have been launched at the country by the Houthis.
Videos from Sanaa showed large plumes of black smoke rising from at least three locations in the city following the Israeli strikes on Thursday afternoon.
The attack took place moments before Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV began broadcasting a speech by the movement's leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi.
Al-Masirah reported that the strikes targeted residential areas in the Maain and Sabaeen districts, as well as the Dhahban power station. It posted photographs showing several destroyed and damaged buildings.
Health ministry spokesman Dr Anees al-Asbahi accused the IDF of the deliberate and systematic targeting of civilian, service, and residential facilities, which he said was a war crime in every sense of the word.
He reported that eight people were killed and 142 injured, and that civilians were among them. He added that first responders were still searching under rubble for casualties.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X that his country had delivered a powerful strike on numerous terror targets of the Houthi terror organisation in Sanaa.
The IDF said in a statement that the targets included the Houthi military's General Staff Command Headquarters, security and intelligence compounds, the Houthis' military public relations headquarters, and military camps used to store weapons.
The IDF will operate against the ongoing and repeated attacks of the Houthi terrorist regime against the State of Israel, will conduct additional offensive operations against the Houthi regime in the near future, it added.
