IDF issues ‘urgent’ evacuation warning for Yemen’s Houthi-controlled Sanaa International Airport

In an unusual move, the IDF has issued an “urgent” evacuation warning for Yemen’s Sanaa International Airport, in the Houthi-held capital.

In a post on X, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, says, “We call upon you to evacuate the airport area immediately and warn everyone in your vicinity of the need to evacuate this area immediately.”

“Failure to evacuate and move away from the area exposes you to danger,” he adds.

#عاجل ‼️ انذار عاجل إلى جميع المتواجدين في منطقة مطار صنعاء الدولي وفق ما يعرض في الخارطة المرفقة.
⭕️ندعوكم إلى اخلاء منطقة المطار – مطار صنعاء الدولي – بشكل فوري وتحذير كل من يتواجد بجواركم عن ضرورة اخلاء هذه المنطقة فورًا
⭕️عدم الاخلاء والابتعاد عن المكان يعرضكم للخطر pic.twitter.com/5qXw5x4SBD

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) May 6, 2025

The warning comes after the IDF struck Houthi targets in Yemen last night, in response to the Iran-backed group’s repeated missile and drone attacks on Israel, including Sunday’s strike on Ben Gurion Airport.

Israeli warplanes hit Sanaa International Airport in December, with the IDF saying at the time that “infrastructure used by the Houthi terror regime for its military activities” was targeted.

An employee of the UN Humanitarian Air Service was wounded in that strike, which took place while WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was in the airport waiting to depart.