Aug. 24 (UPI) -- The Israeli military launched a series of attacks on Yemen's power infrastructure and the presidential palace in Sanaa on Sunday, killing at least four people, Houthi-run media announced.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the strikes on the palace, the Adar and Hizaz power plants, and a fuel storage site, which it said the Houthi rebels use for military activity in the capital.
"These strikes were carried out in response to repeated Houthi attacks on Israel with missiles and" drones, the IDF said in a post on X.
"The Houthis, backed by Iran, continue to exploit civilian infrastructure for terror purposes."
A Houthi military official told Houthi-run broadcaster Al Masirah that the group was able to "neutralize most of the Israeli enemy aircraft participating in the aggression and forced them to leave."
Al Masirah reported that, in addition to four killed, 67 people sustained injuries in the attacks.
Houthi official Mohammed al-Bujhaiti said in a statement that the attacks won't stop the Houthis from putting pressure on Israel as it wages war against the Palestinians in Gaza.
"The Israeli aggression against Yemen will not discourage us from continuing our support for Gaza, no matter the sacrifices," he said. "The issue is settled for us: either eternity in heaven or eternity in hell."
The Israeli military escalated attacks on Gaza on Sunday, killing at least 51 people including children and people seeking aid, medical officials told Al Jazeera. At least three of those killed came from an attack on a residential apartment.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian-run WAFA news agency reported that Israeli troops raided a house in the village of al-Arqa and set fire to land in Marj Ibn Amer plain.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Sunday that the country is seeing a return to Zionism at its peak.
"We will defeat the terror regime in Yemen as we defeated Hezbollah, the Syrians and the octopus head in Iran and as our righteous and dedicated fighters are defeating Hamas in Gaza," he said in a speech at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, according to The Times of Israel.
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