Latest news with #KhaledAlShaief
South China Morning Post
28-05-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
Israel hits Houthi targets including last plane at Yemen's Sanaa airport
Israel said it had struck Houthi targets including the last remaining plane used by the group at Sanaa international airport, after the Yemeni militants launched missiles towards Israel a day earlier. The general director of Sanaa International Airport, Khaled al-Shaief, said in a post on his X account that the strike had completely destroyed the last of the civilian planes that Yemenia Airways was operating from the airport. The airport is the largest in Yemen and came back into service last week after temporary repairs and runway restoration following previous Israeli strikes. It was mainly being used by UN aircraft and the plane destroyed in the latest Israeli strikes. Three other Yemenia Airways planes were destroyed in an attack earlier this month. 'This is a clear message and a direct continuation of the policy we have established: whoever fires at the State of Israel will pay a heavy price,' Israel's defence ministry said in a statement. 02:46 US launches air strikes in Yemen amid escalating tensions with Houthi rebels US launches air strikes in Yemen amid escalating tensions with Houthi rebels The Houthis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
News.com.au
08-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Chilling images of destroyed planes after air strikes at Yemen's main international airport
Blackened aircraft pieces have been pictured strewn across the tarmac at Yemen's main international airport after Israeli air strikes. Some commercial planes at Sanaa International Airport in the rebel-held capital Sanaa were barely recognisable in photos documenting the aftermath. Noses, tails and wings of planes could be seen ripped from destroyed fuselages. Some images showed aircraft engulfed in flames and smoke. The Israeli attack on Sanaa on Tuesday (local time) came after a missile launched by the Iranian-backed Houthi movement landed near Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday (local time). It left a large crater near a car park and flights were halted. Before the strike on Sanaa Airport, people had been told to evacuate the area. Afterwards, an Israeli military statement said that 'fighter jets struck and dismantled Houthi terrorist infrastructure at the main airport in Sanaa'. The attack destroyed terminal buildings and caused about $A775 million in damage, according to Sanaa Airport director Khaled alShaief. He said six planes in total had been destroyed. 'Around $500 million [USD] in losses were caused by the Israeli aggression on Sanaa airport,' Mr alShaief told the rebels' Al-Masirah television channel. 'The enemy destroyed the terminals at Sanaa airport, including all equipment and devices,' he said, adding that a warehouse was also 'completely levelled'. The national carrier, Yemenia Airways, said it lost three planes. The airline said it 'strongly condemns' the 'barbaric attack' and that its aircraft at Queen Alia Airport in Jordan's capital Amman would help during the disrupted operations. Customers were told to 'stay in touch with relevant departments to arrange and reschedule their flights'. The Israeli strikes on Sanaa on Tuesday targeted power stations and a cement factory, in addition to the airport. Three people were killed and 38 wounded, Houthis' media said. 'Will not be blowing up ships': US-Houthi deal Meanwhile, a United States-Houthi agreement was announced this week, following weeks of stepped-up US strikes aimed at deterring Houthi attacks on shipping. US President Donald Trump trumpeted the deal, saying the Houthis had 'capitulated'. 'They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore, and that's … the purpose of what we were doing,' he said during a White House press appearance. Scores of Houthi missile and drone attacks have drastically reduced cargo volumes on the Red Sea route, which normally carries about 12 per cent of global maritime trade. The Houthis say their campaign — and a steady stream of attacks on Israeli territory — is in solidarity with the Palestinians. Yemen's Houthi rebels will continue targeting Israeli ships in the Red Sea, an official told AFP on Wednesday, despite the ceasefire. A day after the Houthis agreed to stop firing on ships plying the key trade route off their shores, a senior official told AFP that Israel was excluded from the deal. 'The waterways are safe for all international ships except Israeli ones,' Abdulmalik Alejri, a member of the Houthi political bureau, told AFP. 'Israel is not part of the agreement, it only includes American and other ships,' he said. The Houthis, who have controlled large swathes of Yemen for more than a decade, began firing at Israel-linked shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in November 2023, weeks after the start of the Israel-Hamas war. They broadened their campaign to target ships tied to the United States and Britain after military strikes by the two countries began in January 2024. Mr Alejri said the Houthis would now 'only' attack Israeli ships. In the past, vessels visiting Israel, or those with tenuous Israeli links, were in the rebels' sights. On Wednesday, Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said their forces had launched two attacks, targeting Ramon Airport in southern Israel with two drones and 'a vital target of the Zionist enemy' in the Tel Aviv area 'using a Yafa drone'. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman earlier Esmaeil Baqaei 'welcomed the cessation of US aggression against the country', praising Yemenis for their 'legendary resistance'.
The National
08-05-2025
- Health
- The National
Houthis vow response as Israeli strikes on airport cause $500m damage
Israeli strikes on Yemen's Sanaa airport caused $500 million in damage and destroyed terminal buildings, its director told Houthi media on Wednesday, as the Iran-backed group vowed to respond. The strikes on the Houthi-controlled airport came after the Iran-backed group launched a missile that struck near Israel's Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday. 'Around $500 million in losses were caused by the Israeli aggression on Sanaa airport,' its general director Khaled Al Shaief told Al Masirah television. 'The enemy destroyed the terminals at Sanaa airport, including all equipment and devices.' A warehouse was also 'completely levelled', he added. Yemenia Airways lost three planes, he said, with six planes in total destroyed. 'There are alternatives to temporarily reopen the airport, and we need a long time to rehabilitate it and restore operations,' he said. The airport had reopened to international flights after a six-year gap in 2022, with regular flights to Jordan's capital Amman. Yemenis in need of emergency medical treatment abroad have been among those relying on the airport. Houthi health ministry spokesman Anees Alasbahi told AFP the attack will 'increase human suffering for sick people who need to travel abroad for treatment' and would make it more difficult to bring medical supplies into the war-battered country. Video of the Israeli strikes aired by Al Masirah showed the terminal's windows blown out, with concrete blocks exposed and a fire burning inside. On the runway, Yemenia planes burnt. Other Israeli strikes elsewhere in Yemen hit a cement plant and power plants, the Houthis and Israelis both said. The US on Tuesday announced it would end a bombing campaign that had significantly intensified since mid-March, with the Houthis also agreeing to stop attacking ships to ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. The truce was mediated and confirmed by Oman. But that deal did not mention Israel, with the rebels vowing to respond to Tuesday's strikes. 'The agreement does not include Israel in any way, shape or form,' Mohammed Abdulsalam, the chief Houthi negotiator, told Reuters. 'As long as they announced the cessation [of US strikes] and they are actually committed to that, our position was self-defence so we will stop.' An Israeli official and a US official separately confirmed to AP that the Trump administration did not inform Jerusalem of the deal with the Houthis ahead of time. Israel reportedly found out about the truce when US President Donald Trump announced it during his meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Yemen Online
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yemen Online
Sanaa airport 'disabled' after Israeli strikes on Yemen
All flights to and from Sanaa airport in Yemen have been suspended due to damage inflicted by Israeli air strikes. The airport's general director Khaled Al Shaief said in a post on X early on Wednesday that the Israeli strikes on had caused 'extensive damage'. The strikes involved 50 bombs, 'dozens' of aircraft and mid-air refuelling, the Israeli military said. "Fighter jets struck and dismantled Houthi terrorist infrastructure at the main airport in Sanaa, fully disabling the airport," it added. The operation came just hours before US President Donald Trump and mediator Oman announced a truce between Yemen's Houthi rebels and Washington, which has been carrying out its own intensive bombing campaign in Yemen in recent weeks. The US had been targeting Houthi assets in an attempt to stop the Iran-backed group attacking international shipping in the Red Sea, which the Houthis say they have been doing in solidarity with Palestinians over the war in Gaza. Israel's strikes on Tuesday came in response to a missile fired by the Houthis on Sunday that landed near Israel's main international airport, Ben Gurion, outside Tel Aviv. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to fight back. Ceasefire deal Oman, meanwhile, said the ceasefire agreement between the US and the Houthis would ensure 'freedom of navigation' in the Red Sea. Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi said: 'Following recent discussions and contacts … with the aim of de-escalation, efforts have resulted in a ceasefire agreement between the two sides. 'Neither side will target the other … ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping.' Mr Trump said the Houthis had 'capitulated', adding: 'The Houthis have announced ... that they don't want to fight any more. They just don't want to fight. And we will honour that, and we will stop the bombings. 'They say they will not be blowing up ships any more, and that's ... the purpose of what we were doing.' The Houthis did not directly comment on the truce but Mahdi Al Mashat, head of their supreme political council, said in a statement carried by the rebel-controlled Saba news agency early on Wednesday that 'continued escalation' would affect a visit by Mr Trump to the Middle East scheduled for next week. 'We indirectly informed the Americans that the continued escalation will affect the criminal Trump's visit to the region, and we have not informed them of anything else,' he said. Mr Trump is due to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE. Mr Al Mashat, however, promised a 'painful' response to the Israeli strikes. He said Houthi attacks on Israel 'will continue' and go 'beyond what the Israeli enemy can withstand'. Video of the Israeli strikes on Sanaa airport aired by the Houthis' Al Masirah satellite news channel showed the terminal's windows blown out, with concrete blocks exposed and a fire burning inside. On the runway, aircraft associated with the state carrier Yemenia burned. Other Israeli strikes elsewhere in Yemen hit a cement plant and power plants, the Houthis and Israelis both said. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the strikes should be seen as a warning to the 'head of the Iranian octopus', which he said bears direct responsibility for attacks by the Houthis against Israel. Hans Grundberg, the UN's special envoy for Yemen, called the attacks in Yemen and Israel 'a grave escalation in an already fragile and volatile regional context'.
Asharq Al-Awsat
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Sanaa Airport Director: Losses from Israeli Attack Estimated at Around $500 Million
The Director General of Sanaa International Airport Khaled Al-Shaief, said Wednesday that the preliminary losses resulting from the recent Israeli attack on the airport are estimated at around $500 million, according to Houthi-run media. Al-Shaief confirmed the suspension of all flights to and from Sanaa Airport until further notice due to the damage caused by the attack launched by the Israeli military. The Israeli strikes resulted in "extensive damage" to the airport, al-Shaief added in a post on X. The Israeli military bombed the airport on Tuesday, claiming to have disabled the airfield in an attack that left commercial aircraft burning on the tarmac as its fighter jets struck power plants and other targets. The rare daytime attack on Sanaa came as part of a second day of Israeli airstrikes in response to a Houthi ballistic missile striking the grounds of Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv. The Houthis described the Israeli attacks as killing at least seven people and wounding 74 others over two days.
