Karim al-Yemani is the pseudonym for a researcher and reporter from Yemen, whose real name is not being used given the security situation in Yemen.
As Israel has been hitting targets in Yemen for over a year, the damage and destruction of private property and public infrastructure in the country have drastically worsened, claiming the lives of hundreds of civilians. After the airstrikes, the injured are taken to hospitals while bodies are removed from the rubble and buried amid the grief of relatives and neighbors. The perpetrator—Israel—is beyond reach and accountability for its crimes.
Israel's strikes are a response to the Houthi Movement's (Ansar Allah) missile and drone attacks on the country, stretching back to November 2023, in solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza. Israel has killed over 66,000 people in the Strip over the last two years.
However, the Israeli response reflects a blatant disregard and contempt for civilian life. In Yemen, the toll of Israel's strikes on civilians has been considerable: death, injuries, displacement, trauma and the loss of livelihoods. Meanwhile, Houthi forces remain largely intact, continuing to sporadically launch drones and missiles that rarely cause civilian harm but almost strictly target civilian sites as well.
On Sep. 10, Israeli strikes targeted a media house in Sana'a, killing 32 media members, including journalists. Over a hundred other civilians—whether at home, in shops, walking the streets or traveling in vehicles—were killed or injured. Countless more were left traumatized.
Um Bilal, 35, was in her home when Israeli warplanes dropped bombs on the Sana'a-based Department of Moral Guidance—an inherently civilian target and media institution, even if affiliated with the Houthi armed forces. That moment of horror remains an indelible memory for her and countless other families.
"My home's windows shattered, dust flew inside the house, and a wall of the living room fell. I screamed and ran to my children to hug them. They were crying loudly, and I felt that [it] would be our last hour in life," Um Bilal told Democracy in Exile.
She was lucky that none of her family members were killed or wounded. A few meters near her home, she witnessed three men on a minibus who fared far worse.
"Due to the close explosion, the minibus was squeezed. The three men died instantly. Their bodies were pressed by the steel of the bus, and they were covered by dust. It was a horrible scene," Um Bilal said. "Israel's attacks do not seek to kill Houthis only," she continued.
The operation appears intended to flood the populace in Houthi-controlled provinces with multiple woes, including a fuel crisis, displacement and job loss—not unlike that of Gaza.
- Karim al-Yemani
"They also aim to hurt and terrorize everyone in the city. The strikes, which targeted our neighborhood, are proof."
In Hodeidah, Israel has repeatedly pounded the port, killing and wounding civilians while disrupting the key humanitarian gateway for Yemen and causing millions of dollars in financial loss. A giant cement factory was also reduced to rubble.
In Sana'a, power stations, the international airport and fuel storage facilities have received the lion's share of the Israeli strikes. The operation appears intended to flood the populace in Houthi-controlled provinces with multiple woes, including a fuel crisis, displacement and job loss—not unlike that of Gaza.
Yemenis are convinced of as much. Abdulraman, 28, a schoolteacher in Sana'a, said that while Israel claims a right to self-defense, it does not have the right to pursue a strategy of collective punishment.
Abdulraman was near a fuel station struck by Israel in Sana'a on Sep. 10. He told Democracy in Exile: "Targeting Houthi military facilities is not surprising. It's a tit-for-tat confrontation. But the destruction of public infrastructure is a deliberate strategy to intensify Yemenis' humanitarian suffering."
For a year, Israeli strikes plunged neighborhoods into darkness after hitting power stations, paralyzed ports and left factories in tatters. So far, only one Israeli attack is confirmed to have killed 12 Houthi government officials, including Prime Minister Ahmed Alrahawi and other ministers, in late August. The Houthis do not release information about killed fighters.
The officials who died in those strikes held civilian positions, including the Ministers of Justice, Youth and Public Works. Although their loss is morally and legally significant, it has little to no impact on the group's military capabilities.
The operation appears intended to flood the populace in Houthi-controlled provinces with multiple woes, including a fuel crisis, displacement and job loss—not unlike that of Gaza.
- Karim al-Yemani
Mohammed Abdu, a Yemeni journalist and researcher focused on political issues in Yemen, told Democracy in Exile that Israel's killing of the Houthi prime minister and other ministers represents a symbolic blow unlikely to weaken the group's fighting spirit.
"Militarily, the Houthis' military infrastructure [ballistic missiles, drones and intelligence infrastructure] has not been entirely ruined, which means they can continue launching attacks against Israel," he explained.
"Civilians mostly bear the harm of the Israeli strikes."
As such, Israel's operations have further complicated Yemen's humanitarian situation. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said that Yemen is again on the brink of a humanitarian disaster, standing as the world's third most food-insecure context. These numbers compare to those before the 2022 truce, when the Saudi-led air campaign inflicted similar levels of pain on Yemen while failing to dislodge the Houthis.
OCHA indicated that Israeli airstrikes have further sabotaged infrastructure and livelihoods. United States sanctions and aid freezes have also played a notable role.
The tragedy is poised to deepen as Israel and the Houthis vow escalation. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz recently threatened to assassinate Abdulmalek al-Houthi, the leader of Yemen's Houthi Movement, declaring that Israel's flag would fly over the capital, Sana'a.
In response, the Houthis pledged to continue their fight against Israel, regardless of the consequences. Amid this escalating war of words and ongoing attacks, civilians face worsening peril.
An Oman-led mediation track in May facilitated a Houthi-American agreement, ending an equally deadly and flawed U.S. campaign in Yemen initiated by U.S. President Donald Trump. Yet, while the strikes have ceased, the painful legacy of that campaign remains palpable.
Earlier this year, al-Houthi said, "The U.S.-British aggression targeted Yemen over the course of a year, from January 2024 through January 2025, with 932 raids." He indicated that the strikes, initiated by former U.S. President Joe Biden, killed 106 people and left 314 wounded. Yemen Data Project—a non-profit tracking civilian harm in Yemen—reported 308 civilian casualties, including 21 deaths.
Later, in April 2025, Trump's air campaign hit the Ras Isa Port in Al Hodeidah. Airwars, a U.K.-headquartered not-for-profit watchdog, identified 84 civilian deaths by name, based on testimony and tributes shared online by friends, family and colleagues.
As the geopolitical center of Yemen, Sana'a was the most heavily targeted city in Houthi-controlled territory. Civilians still recount horrendous moments and painful memories. An American strike in April on Farwah market in Sana'a's Shoub district killed 12 people, and 30 others were injured.
Abdulkareem, 24, said his cousin, 14, was killed in that strike. As he told Democracy in Exile, "He went to the grocery near his house. When the strike hit Farwah market, he was killed."
"Even if the U.S. stopped and apologized, who would bring him back to life? His remembrance is a life-long anguish," said Abdulkareem.
Aerial operations alone cannot defeat the Houthis or cripple their military power. But they can and do cause the life-long suffering Abdulkareem expressed. Indeed, the only guaranteed outcome of air raids is a rising civilian toll. Confronting the Houthis requires a comprehensive, well-timed strategy. Warplanes and pilots will repeatedly fail, as they did for Saudi Arabia and the United States in the past.
Abdulkareem said the media hype surrounding the Israeli and American strikes fades within hours or days after each attack on a civilian neighborhood. However, "The agony of families lasts much longer," he argues.
"Israeli and American strikes murder Yemeni civilians as their enemy [the Houthis] gets stronger and stronger."
