• Israel’s military said it struck the Asar and Hizaz power plants and a military site where the presidential palace is located
• The strikes killed six people and injured 86 in a final toll, a Houthi Health Ministry spokesperson said on X.

SANAA/TEL AVIV: Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen’s capital on Sunday, days after the Houthi rebels fired a missile toward Israel that its military described as the first cluster bomb the rebels had launched at it since 2023.

The Iranian-backed Houthis said multiple areas across Sanaa were hit, while the Houthi-run health ministry said six people were killed and 86 others were wounded.

The rebels’ Al-Masirah satellite television reported a strike on an oil company, and video on social media showed a fireball erupting there.

The strikes are the latest in over a year of direct attacks and counterstrikes between Israel and Houthi militants in Yemen, part of a spillover from the war in Gaza.

Israel’s military said it struck the Asar and Hizaz power plants, calling them “a significant electricity supply facility for military activities,” along with a military site where the presidential palace is located.

Sanaa residents told The Associated Press they heard explosions close to a closed military academy and the presidential palace. They saw plumes of smoke near Sabeen Square, a central gathering place in the capital.

“The sounds of explosions were very strong,” said Hussein Mohamed, who lives close to the presidential palace.

Ahmed Al-Mekhlafy said he felt the sheer force of the strikes. “The house was rocked, and the windows were shattered,” he told the AP by phone.

“The strikes were conducted in response to repeated attacks by the Houthi terrorist regime against the State of Israel and its civilians, including the launching of surface-to-surface missiles and UAVs toward Israeli territory in recent days,” the Israeli military said in a statement.

Agencies