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Israeli warplanes hit targets across Yemen for the second time in a week, including the international airport, energy facilities and ports, marking an increase in strikes in retaliation for recent missile attacks by Iran-backed Houthi militants.

Israel’s military said on Thursday it had carried out “intelligence-based strikes” on targets used by the Houthis for “military activities” as well as entry points into Yemen used by Iranian officials and arms smugglers.

Among the places hit were Sana’a international airport, two power stations and three ports on the country’s west coast including Hodeidah.

At least four people were killed and 16 injured during the strikes, according to local media reports from Yemen, although the extent of damage to various facilities remains unclear.

A humanitarian delegation led by World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was at Sana’a airport during the attacks.

According to a statement by Tedros, one of the delegation’s air crew was injured, although he said UN and WHO officials were “safe”.

“We have to wait for the damage to the airport to be repaired before we can leave,” he added.

According to Israeli media reports, about two dozen fighter jets took part in the day’s attack, the fourth direct attack by Israel on Yemen since last summer and second in as many weeksafter the Houthis recently stepped up missile attacks on the Jewish state.

“We are determined to cut off this terrorist arm of Iran’s axis of evil. We will continue to do so until we complete the job,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

At least five ballistic missiles have been fired into central Israel in the past 10 days, including early Christmas morning, sending millions of residents scurrying to shelling shelters.

On two occasions Israel’s air defenses failed to fully intercept incoming projectiles, one of which landed in a school and the other in a playground in the Tel Aviv area, slightly injuring 16 people.

The Houthis, who control northern Yemen and the capital, began shelling merchant ships in the Red Sea and launched hundreds of armed drones and missiles at Israel after an attack by the Gaza militant group Hamas in October 7 2023, stating that they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians. Their attacks severely disrupted shipping through one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes.

Along with Hamas, the Lebanese militia Hizbollah and Shia militias in Iraq and Syria, the Houthis form the Iran-led “axis of resistance” whose capabilities Israel has severely undermined in recent months.

A naval task force, led by US and UK forces, attempted to protect merchant ships in the region. Last week, coalition jets themselves launched air strikes on what the US military described as “command and control” Houthi centers in Sana’a.

The militants’ leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, was giving his weekly televised address when the bombardment began.

Israel Katz, Israel’s defense minister, on Thursday again vowed to “find” the Houthi leadership and “cut” the group just as he said Israel had done with Hamas and Hizbollah.

Yet Houthi officials have vowed to continue their attacks on Israel and international shipping as long as the war in Gaza continues.