Yemens Houthi rebels on Monday accused the United States of conducting a fresh round of air strikes in and around the countrys capital Saana. The attack comes after the Houthis claimed a weekend missile attack on Israel. The missile landed close to the main terminal of Tel Avivs Ben Gurion airport, injuring six people and leaving a huge crater in the ground.

YemensHouthi rebelson Monday blamed Washington for around 10 strikes in and around the capitalSanaaafter a missile fired by the Iran-backed group struck the area of Israels main airport.

The Houthi-run Saba news agency said the strikes included two targeting Arbaeen street in the capital as well as one on the airport road, blaming them on "American aggression".

The rebels' health ministry said 14 people were wounded in the Sawan neighbourhood, according to Saba.

The Houthis, who control swathes of Yemen, have launched missiles and drones targeting Israel andRed Seashipping throughout the Gaza war, saying they act in solidarity with Palestinians.

The missile fired from Yemen by the Houthis landed near the main terminal of Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday, wounding six people.

The military confirmed that the attack, which gouged a large crater in the perimeter of the airport, had struck despite "several attempts... to intercept the missile".

In a video published on Telegram, Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahusaid Israel had in the past "acted against" the Iran-backed rebels and "will act in the future".

"It will not happen in one bang, but there will be many bangs," he added, without elaborating.

Later on X, Netanyahu said Israel would also respond to Iran at "a time and place of our choosing".

Read moreIsrael promises retaliation against Iran, Yemen's Houthis over airport attack

Several international airlines suspended flights to Israel following the attack, and hours later the Houthis promised more such strikes and warned airlines to cancel their flights to Israeli airports.

A police video showed officers standing on the edge of a deep hole in the ground with a control tower visible behind them. No damage was reported to airport infrastructure.

An AFP photographer said the missile hit near the parking lots of Terminal 3, the airport's largest.

First time missile hits inside airport perimeter

"You can see the area just behind us: a crater was formed here, several dozen metres wide and several dozen metres deep," centralIsrael's police chief, Yair Hezroni, said in the video.

"This is the first time" that a missile has directly struck inside the airport perimeter, an Israeli military spokesperson told AFP.

The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, saying their forces "carried out a military operation targeting Ben Gurion airport" with a "hypersonic ballistic missile".

In a later statement, the group's military spokesperson Yayha Saree said they would target Israeli airports, "particularly the one in Lod, called Ben Gurion", near Tel Aviv. He called on airlines to cancel flights to Israeli airports.

An AFP journalist inside the airport during the attack said he heard a "loud bang" at around 9:35am (0635 GMT), adding that the "reverberation was very strong".

"Security staff immediately asked hundreds of passengers to take shelter, some in bunkers," the AFP journalist said.

Flights have resumed

One passenger said the attack, which came shortly after air raid sirens sounded across parts of Israel, caused "panic".

"It is crazy to say but since October 7 we are used to this," said the 50-year-old, who did not want to be named, referring to the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.

Flights resumed after being halted briefly, with the aviation authority saying Ben Gurion was now "open and operational".

Soon after a government official said Israel's security cabinet was to meet on Sunday, army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir confirmed media reports of a planned expansion of the Gaza war.

The army would destroy all Hamas infrastructure, "both on the surface and underground", he added.

The Houthis, who control swathes of Yemen, have launched missiles and drones targeting Israel and Red Sea shipping throughout the Gaza war.

US strikes on the rebels began under former presidentJoe Biden, but have intensified under his successorDonald Trump.

Israel resumed major operations across Gaza on March 18 amid a deadlock over how to proceed with a two-month ceasefire that had largely stopped the war.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Originally published on France24