TEHRAN - On August 24, 2025, Israel carried out a series of extensive airstrikes over Yemen's capital, Sanaa, targeting multiple military and civilian sites, including the presidential palace, power plants, fuel storage, and buildings of oil companies. 

The strike left at least six dead and 86 wounded, including women and children, according to the Yemeni health ministry. The airstrikes came as a ruthless act as a response to a Yemeni missile attack at Israel just days before. Israel acknowledged Yemen’s hypersonic ballistic missile was an unprecedented military move.

Disproportionate aggression

This latest Israeli campaign demonstrates a trend of disproportionate military force by Israel while claiming self-defense. By striking critical civilian infrastructure, such as electricity plants and fuel depots, the airstrikes are likely to drive an already fragile city further towards collective punishment. 

By striking indiscriminately civilian areas next to military targets, Israel amplifies human suffering. In addition, the airstrikes took place despite significant global backlash over immense damage from the Israeli military in Gaza.  

The attack on Yemen’s civilian infrastructure raises questions about Israel’s disregard for international humanitarian law (IHL).

Ansarallah’s defiant response

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior official in the Ansarallah political bureau, declared resolutely, "The Israeli aggression against Yemen will not discourage us from continuing our support for Gaza, no matter the sacrifices."

Underscoring the uncompromising stance of the resistance group, he stated, "The issue is settled for us: either eternity in heaven or eternity in hell." 

Abed al-Thawr, an official at Yemen’s Defence Ministry, also refuted Israeli claims that military targets were struck on August 24, asserting that Israel deliberately bombed civilian infrastructure to inflict suffering on the Yemeni population. 

He described the attack on the presidential palace in Sanaa as particularly egregious, noting the palace had long been deserted and condemned Israel's actions as "barbarism." 

The Ansarallah-led Yemeni government labeled the Israeli strikes a "war crime" aimed at harming civilians and creating a deceptive narrative of victory by showing columns of smoke over the city. 

They further stated that the aggression demonstrated Israel, backed by Washington, is waging an open war against the Arab and Muslim nation. 

These statements collectively highlight the firm denunciation of the Israeli airstrikes and Yemen’s continuing commitment to in backing Gaza despite the consequences.

Israeli War Minister Israel Katz claimed the airstrikes are part of an ongoing campaign to neutralize a persistent threat from Yemenis. Katz, like other war criminals in Israel, suffers from the illusion that Israel can defeat Ansarallah. 

Ansarallah officials' statements emphasize their unyielding resistance and frame the strikes within a larger narrative of solidarity with Palestinians, highlighting Israel’s widening regional entanglements.

Yemen’s Ansarallah has been insisting that it will not stop attacks on occupied Palestinian lands so long as Israel doesn’t stop its genocidal campaign against 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip and lift the siege on the territory.