Israel hits Houthi targets in Yemen's capital
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 24 August 2025
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Israel says its latest airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen have destroyed the presidential palace in Sanaa along with the city's power station. Benjamin Netanyahu said the Iranian- backed group was paying a heavy price for its attacks on Israel. The Houthis say the Israeli strikes killed four people.
Also in the programme: Serbia's president promises to lower the cost of living to quell anti-government demonstrations; what Spotify playlists tell us about the habits of moguls and politicians; and the children learning to make music in the midst of the war in Gaza.
(Photo: Photo: Child overlooking smoke rising in Sanaa. Credit: Shutterstock)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to News Hour from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:06.9 | We're coming to you live from London. |
| 0:08.8 | I'm James Menendez. |
| 0:10.4 | And we're going to begin today in Yemen, |
| 0:12.4 | where there have been a series of Israeli airstrikes on the capital, Sanna, |
| 0:16.3 | the stronghold of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. |
| 0:28.5 | Yeah. stronghold of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Witnesses reported a huge fireball over the city. |
| 0:31.7 | The raids were in retaliation for a number of attacks by the Houthis on Friday, |
| 0:35.9 | including one directed at Israel's main |
| 0:37.9 | international airport. It's because of Israel's offensive in Gaza. There was no significant damage, |
| 0:44.3 | but the Israeli military said they'd found evidence for the first time that one of the warheads |
| 0:49.0 | use was carrying a cluster bomb. The Houthis say that Israel's attacks today killed two people and injured 35 others. |
| 0:56.9 | We have been trying to contact people in Sana to tell us what happened, but communications are |
| 1:01.0 | tricky and people are also fearful of speaking to Western media. However, we did manage to talk |
| 1:07.0 | to the journalist Nazia Mohammed, who's based in the city of Aden on Yemen's southern coast, |
| 1:12.0 | an area not under Houthi control. He sent us this voice note, which we've translated and then voiced. |
| 1:23.9 | There were heavy Israeli air raids that targeted the capital Sana this evening. |
| 1:29.4 | These raids hit the zone of the Republican Palace in a Sabine district. |
| 1:34.4 | They were three raids. |
| 1:36.0 | They also hit a petrol station in a compound for the oil company and the Hiziz electric power station. |
| 1:42.6 | The raids were terrifying and explosions could be heard all over the capital. |
| 1:46.6 | These raids spread terror among the residents close to the targeted areas. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.