The Israeli air force struck Yemen's Sanaa International Airport on Wednesday morning in retaliation for several Houthi ballistic missile attacks on Israel over the past week and claimed to have destroyed the Houthis' last operational aircraft.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement Wednesday that Israeli fighter jets "struck terror targets of the Houthi terror organization at the Sanaa international airport and destroyed the last plane that the Houthis still had to use there."

Katz added that the strike on the airport "sends a clear message, continuing the policy we have adopted: Whoever fires at the state of Israel will pay a heavy price." He said that Israel will continue targeting ports in Yemen and that the airport and other infrastructure used by the Houthis will be destroyed again if the group resumes its missile attacks against the Jewish state and warned of a "maritime and aerial blockade."

According to Israel’s Channel 12, the plane destroyed belonged to Yemenia Airways and was usually parked in Jordan. The Israeli strike, which took place around 10 a.m. local time, involved 10 air force jets about half an hour after the aircraft landed in Yemen.