Attack on capital Sanaa raises death toll to more than 220 people since US strikes on Yemen launched in mid-March.

United States military strikes on Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, have killed dozens of people and wounded many more, according to Houthi-affiliated media reports.

The attacks killed at least eight people around the city, while at least 68 died in a strike on a migrant detention centre, Houthi media reported on Monday.

The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM), responsible for military operations in the Middle East, refused to offer details of the latest strikes but acknowledged carrying out more than 800 attacks on targets in Yemen since mid-March. More than 250 people are now reported to have been killed in the campaign.

The Al Masirah TV satellite news channel reported early on Monday that eight people were killed in a US strike targeting the ​​Bani al-Harith district north of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.

The US also struck Yemen’s Amran and Saada governorates on Sunday night, Houthi officials said, and two people were reported killed in an earlier attack on Sanaa.

“Eight martyrs, including children and women,” the channel reported after the attack that targeted the Thaqban area in Bani al-Harith.

Detained migrants caught in the crossfire

A later report by the station showed graphic footage and said that 68 people had been killed when a migrant detention centre was hit in the strikes on Saada.

The facility had been holding about 100 people from Ethiopia and other African countries detained while crossing Yemen in a bid to secure work in Saudi Arabia.

Houthi rebels allegedly earn large sums smuggling migrants over the border, but those seeking to cross are taking a significant risk, with the threat of detainment and abuse added to by long-running conflict.

A strike by the Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis in 2022 hit a detention centre killing 66 detainees, according to a United Nations report.

The Houthis shot dead 16 detainees who fled after the strike and wounded another 50, the UN said.

The latest US bombing raids raise the death toll from US strikes on Yemen to more than 250 people, according to a tally of Houthi announcements on casualties.

The US military said on Sunday that since March 15, it had struck more than 800 targets in Yemen and killed hundreds of rebel fighters.

“These strikes have killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders,” CENTCOM said. It added that the attacks on Yemen would continue but details would continue to be restricted.

“To preserve operational security, we have intentionally limited disclosing details of our ongoing or future operations,” CENTCOM said.

“We are very deliberate in our operational approach, but will not reveal specifics about what we’ve done or what we will do,” it added.

The US has not commented on civilian casualties from its intense bombing of Yemen, which began on March 15 and has involved almost daily attacks.

US forces say they are targeting the Houthis because of the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, and on Israel. The Houthis say they launched their attacks on Red Sea shipping linked to Israel in retaliation against Israel’s war on Gaza.

On April 18, a US strike on Yemen’s Ras Isa fuel port killed at least 74 people and wounded 171 others in the deadliest-known attack to date by the US on Yemen.

The increase in US attacks also comes as US President Donald Trump intensifies efforts to pressure Iran – the main supporter of the Houthis – into agreeing to a new deal on its nuclear capabilities.

The US is conducting strikes from its two aircraft carriers in the region – the USS Harry S Truman in the Red Sea and the USS Carl Vinson in the Arabian Sea.

Houthi forces, nevertheless, continue to launch missiles at Israel and US vessels in the Red Sea, as well as US military drones.

Syria’s arrears to the World Bank total roughly $15m.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar have announced that they will settle Syria’s debt to the World Bank totalling roughly $15m, according to a statement published by the Saudi Press Agency, in the latest effort to help reverse the economic fortunes of a nation beset by years of war.

Both Gulf states have played a key role in the diplomatic outreach to Syria’s new interim government since the ouster of longtime leader President Bashar al-Assad in December.

“The ministries of finance in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the state of Qatar jointly announce their commitment to settle Syria’s outstanding arrears to the World Bank Group, totalling around $15 million,” the statement said on Sunday.

It came just days after Syria’s central bank governor and finance minister attended the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings for the first time in more than 20 years.

The World Bank had suspended operations in Syria after the start of the war, which began with a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests during the Arab Spring in 2011. The settlement of the country’s arrears will enable it to resume accessing the bank’s financial support and technical advice.

“This commitment will pave the way for the World Bank Group to resume support and operations in Syria after a suspension of more than 14 years,” the statement said.

“It will also unlock Syria’s access to financial support in the near term for the development of critical sectors.”

Al-Assad was ousted in a lightning offensive by opposition fighters led by the Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham armed group last December.

Syria’s new government has sought to rebuild the country’s diplomatic ties, including with international financial institutions. It also counts on wealthy Gulf Arab states to play a pivotal role in financing the reconstruction of Syria’s war-ravaged infrastructure and reviving its economy.

The government led by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa also wants to transition away from the corrupt system that gave al-Assad loyalists privileged access to government contracts and kept key industries in the hands of the al-Assad family.

Earlier this month, a United Nations official said that Syria’s authorities should begin the process of economic recovery, without waiting for Western sanctions imposed under al-Assad’s rule to be lifted.

Israel has violated the November ceasefire multiple times, attacking the Lebanese capital and the south.

Israel has struck Beirut’s southern suburbs after issuing an evacuation warning, the third Israeli strike on the Lebanese capital since a ceasefire took effect in late November.

A huge plume of smoke rose over the area after the strike on Sunday. There was no immediate word on casualties.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the air strike and called for France and the United States, guarantors of the November 27 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, to compel Israel to halt its attacks. Israel has violated that truce multiple times in recent months and weeks with attacks on the capital and across southern Lebanon.

Aoun said Israel is undermining stability in Lebanon and escalating tensions, posing “real dangers to the security” of the region.

The Israeli military said the attack on Beirut destroyed “an infrastructure where precision missiles” were stored by Hezbollah. It did not provide proof for its claim. No secondary explosions were reported after the Israeli attack.

Local platforms have published footage filmed in the immediate aftermath of the bombardment. This video has been verified by Al Jazeera:

بالفيديو: دخان كثيف يتصاعد من “الهنغار” المُستهدف في منطقة الحدث بالضاحية الجنوبية pic.twitter.com/nLle4DuG8I

— هنا لبنان (@thisislebnews) April 27, 2025

‘Damage widespread’

Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting in Beirut, said: “We were able a short while ago to reach the site that was targeted, but there was a lot of chaos, and we were told to leave.”

“The damage was widespread, also affecting nearby buildings. Windows were blown out, glass was on the floor, cars were damaged,” she added.

“This strike did come with a warning but without any provocation,” Khodr said. “This is not the first time that Beirut’s southern suburb has been hit since Israel and Hezbollah agreed to that ceasefire back in November, but this time, there was no rocket fire. So people here are concerned that Israel is rewriting the rules of engagement, saying that there are no red lines any longer and that this could be the beginning of an escalation.”

‘Pinging the system’ for intelligence

Elias Hanna, a retired Lebanese army general, told Al Jazeera the Israeli strike on Beirut – and the warning that preceded it – may have been aimed at gathering intelligence on Hezbollah.

Hanna said such an operation is known as “pinging the system”.

“If you have information on certain individuals or facilities, you send the warning, and you wait to see how these officials or leaders will respond,” he said. “Will they move from one place to another?”

Hanna added that the operation could confirm or dismiss certain information, which would be a “win-win” scenario for intelligence gathering.

During the yearlong war, Israeli drones and fighter jets regularly bombarded the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah has widespread influence and support. Israel assassinated several of Hezbollah’s top leaders there, including Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.

The US has pressured Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah, but Aoun has warned this is a “delicate” matter that must be handled in a way that preserves peace in the religiously diverse country. Hezbollah, which views itself as the resistance to Israel, says it will not disarm.