After bombing Qatar, why did Israel strike Yemen?
The Take
Al Jazeera
4.7 • 748 Ratings
🗓️ 15 September 2025
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Israel has intensified its strikes in Yemen, targeting the Houthi leadership and plunging capital Sanaa into deadly chaos. The attacks have killed dozens, sparked a climate of fear, led to mass detentions - including of United Nations staff - and threatened critical humanitarian aid. So, how is the escalation being felt by Yemeni civilians?
In this episode:
- Abubakr Al-Shamahi, Al Jazeera Journalist
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Diana Ferrero, Tracie Hunte, Sarí el-Khalili, and Tamara Khandaker with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Chloe K. Li, Melanie Marich, Kisaa Zehra, Farhan Rafid, and our host, Malika Bilal. It was edited by Noor Wazwaz and Kylene Kiang.
The Take production team is Marcos Bartolomé, Sonia Bhagat, Spencer Cline, Sarí el-Khalili, Diana Ferrero, Tracie Hunte, Tamara Khandaker, Kylene Kiang, Phillip Lanos, Chloe K. Li, Melanie Marich, Catherine Nouhan, Amy Walters, and Noor Wazwaz. Our editorial interns are Farhan Rafid, and Kisaa Zehra. Our host is Malika Bilal.
Our engagement producers are Adam Abou-Gad and Vienna Maglio. Andrew Greiner is lead of audience engagement. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Al Jazeera Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | Today, a new phase in Israel's conflict with Yemen's Houthis. |
| 0:16.0 | A fresh round of Israeli air strikes on the Yemeni capital. |
| 0:20.0 | The latest strikes come weeks after Israeli missiles killed senior Houthi leaders. |
| 0:24.6 | So what does this mean for Yemenis caught in the middle? |
| 0:29.6 | I'm Malika Bilal, and this is the take. |
| 0:46.2 | So my full name is Abu Bakr al-Shemahi. I'm an editor with Al Jazeera English online. |
| 0:56.1 | Abu Bakr, it is nice to have you on the take. As you know well, this past week could not have been an easy one for many people in Yemen. |
| 1:02.6 | Thick plumes of dark smoke could be seen in the skies of the capital, Sana'a, and elsewhere, |
| 1:05.8 | after yet another round of Israeli strikes. |
| 1:12.4 | This one was on Wednesday, just a day after Israel launched a strike in Qatar. |
| 1:15.0 | I'm speaking to you on Friday. |
| 1:20.3 | So what do we know about the targets and the extent of the damage today? |
| 1:25.7 | The Israelis targeted a few different areas with the latest air strikes. |
| 1:28.6 | The main thrust of the airstrikes were in Sana'a, as well as in Al Jouf. When I talk about San'a, I mean Sana City itself. Some of the |
| 1:35.2 | kind of most shocking images that have emerged have been from a place near Tahrir Square, which is right |
| 1:42.4 | in the heart of the capital San'a. |
| 1:47.3 | It's a residential area, but it appears to be something called, in Arabic at Tajjia al-Manoi, |
| 1:54.0 | could perhaps translate it into moral guidance. |
| 1:55.9 | This is the state or the military's media units. |
| 2:03.5 | So some of the Yemen's most important newspapers, |
| 2:11.2 | the 26th of September headquarters was hit. And like I said, very tightly packed areas in the capital. |
... |
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