Israel launched a multi-wave attack across Yemen in retaliation for Houthi missile and drone strikes, the Israeli military confirmed Thursday.

Israel Defense Forces warplanes hit key infrastructure like Sanaa International Airport in the Yemeni capital — which is controlled by the Iran-backed terror group — as well as power plants in Aziz and Ras Cantib.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he and members of a UN team were getting ready to board a plane in Sanaa when the airstrike began.

“As we were about to board our flight from Sanaa… the airport came under aerial bombardment. One of our plane’s crew members was injured,” Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

Munitions destroyed or damaged parts of the airport “just a few meters” from where the WHO chief and his team were standing. Although they were unharmed, they were left stranded at the airport until repairs could be made, he said.

In addition to the strikes on the airport, the IDF also said it took out key infrastructure in the ports of Hodeidah, al-Salif and Ras Cantib on Yemen’s western coast.

Israel said the facilities it targeted were used by Houthi terrorists to shuttle Iranian weapons to the region, and demonstrated how the group uses “civilian infrastructure for terrorist purposes.”

At least four people were killed and a dozen more were injured, according to Houthi-run al-Masirah television.

The strikes reportedly took place as Houthi chief Abdul-Malik al-Houthi was giving a speech, according to Times of Israel.

“The Houthi terrorist regime repeatedly attacks the State of Israel and its citizens, launching unmanned aerial vehicles and surface-to-surface missiles towards the country’s territory,” IDF said in a press release Thursday.

“The IDF will not hesitate to act forcefully and strike anyone who poses a threat to the citizens of the State of Israel, at any distance required.”

In a statement on X, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam characterized Israel’s strikes on the airport and other “civilian architecture” as a “crime against the Yemeni people.”

Israeli officials earlier this week vowed to begin targeting leaders of the Houthis in response to the strikes on Israel.

“Just as we took care of [Yayha] Sinwar in Gaza, [Ismail] Haniyeh in Tehran and [Hassan] Nasrallah in Beirut, we will deal with the heads of the Houthis in Sana’a or anywhere in Yemen,” Israel’s defense minister Israel Katz said Tuesday, according to the outlet.

Houthi rebels have been a continuous thorn in the side of both Israel and international shipping companies since the start of its war with Hamas last October. They have repeatedly attacked cargo and tanker ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz and have also launched missiles and drones at US forces stationed in the region.

US Central Command Forces conducted its own airstrikes against Houthi fighters last week, destroying a missile storage facility and a command-and-control facility in Sanaa on Dec. 21. 

The Air Force and Navy-supported strikes were to “disrupt and degrade” Houthi operations, including attacks against Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb and the Gulf of Aden, CENTCOM said in a press release.