Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has framed his country’s heavy airstrikes on Yemen as a necessary fight against the “Houthi terrorist regime.” This strong rhetoric came after Israeli jets bombarded the capital, Sanaa, in retaliation for a Houthi missile attack that deployed a cluster bomb warhead.
By labeling the Houthis a “terrorist regime,” Netanyahu places the military action within a broader counter-terrorism context, justifying the intense bombing campaign to both domestic and international audiences. He asserted that this “regime” is now learning a hard lesson about the severe consequences of its aggression against Israel.
The strikes were extensive, targeting a military compound containing the presidential palace, a fuel depot, and power stations. The operation was designed to dismantle the infrastructure that, according to Defence Minister Israel Katz, is “used to promote Houthi terrorism,” crippling the group’s operational capacity.
The immediate result in Sanaa was deadly, with Houthi officials reporting six fatalities and 86 people wounded. The use of such strong political language signals that Israel views its conflict with the Houthis not as a state-to-state issue, but as a battle against a non-state terrorist entity, allowing for different rules of engagement.