Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Monday that Israel would retaliate if Yemen attacked Israelis in response to Israeli airstrikes on several targets in Sana'a. He said the Sunday airstrikes were also meant to send a direct message to the Houthis.

In a series of posts on X, Netanyahu announced that the Israeli Air Force had carried out strikes on "strategic targets" in Yemen, including the Presidential Palace in central Sana'a, the city power station and its fuel tanks.

"Today, the Air Force once more struck strategic targets in Yemen: the Presidential Palace in the centre of Sana'a, the power station of the city and the fuel tanks that feed it," Netanyahu said.

He added that the aerial attacks were intended to deliver a clear warning to the Houthis.

"The terrorist Houthi regime is learning, the hard way, that it will pay, and is already paying, a very heavy price for its acts of aggression against the State of Israel," he said.

The Prime Minister praised the military commanders and pilots who took part in the operation, stating that "all our planes have returned to our territory."

Reiterating Israel's position, Netanyahu said, "Whoever strikes at us – we strike at them. Whoever is about to strike at us, we strike at them. I believe that all the region is familiar with the power and the determination of the State of Israel."

Israeli airstrikes on Sana'a on Sunday were carried out in response to Houthi missile attacks on Israel. Six people were killed and 86 others wounded in the strikes, a Houthi health official told Reuters.

The airstrikes mark the latest escalation in more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Houthi rebels in Yemen, linked to the wider fallout of the Gaza war.

The Israeli military confirmed that the targets included a military compound that housed the presidential palace, two power plants and a fuel storage facility. A spokesperson for the Houthi Health Ministry said on X that six people had been killed and 86 wounded.

"The attacks were launched in response to continuous aggression by the Houthi terrorist regime against the State of Israel and its residents, including the firing of surface-to-surface missiles and UAVs at Israeli territory over recent days," the Israeli military said.

On Friday, the Houthis had reported launching a ballistic missile toward Israel in their latest strike, describing it as a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. According to an Israeli Air Force official, the missile likely carried several sub-munitions "designed to explode on impact."

Since Israel began its war in Gaza with Hamas in October 2023, the Iran-backed Houthis have targeted ships in the Red Sea, which they also claim is part of their solidarity with Palestinians.