Sanaa, Yemen: Warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition struck Sanaa's international airport on Saturday, shortly after authorities in the rebel-controlled Yemeni capital said it would reopen to receive humanitarian aid, witnesses said.

The runway was hit by two missiles, witnesses said, a day after the civil aviation authority in Sanaa announced it would temporarily reopen the airport, which has been targeted frequently by air strikes.

Earlier Saturday, warplanes hit a nearby airbase, following a night of intensive bombardment of Shiite Huthi rebel positions in their northern stronghold of Saada.

Saudi Arabia on Friday announced a humanitarian ceasefire in Yemen starting 12 May, but has vowed to step up retaliatory strikes on the rebels, which it accuses of launching cross-border attacks on the kingdom.

Lasting political settlement needed, Kerry says

Kerry said such a ceasefire would open the door to the possibility of peace talks. He cautioned, though, that a truce ‘is not peace’ and said it was important that Yemeni leaders tried to reach a lasting political settlement.

‘They are going to have to make tough choices more than just a ceasefire because even the most durable of ceasefire is not a substitute for peace,’ he said.

Riyadh had on Thursday proposed a five-day ceasefire to help civilians trapped in the conflict, if the Houthis themselves stopped fighting. But hours later, the Saudis warned of harsh retaliation against the Houthis after the rebels shelled some populated areas across the frontier.

Houthi mortar and rocket salvoes from Saada crashed into the Saudi city of Najran near the border on Tuesday and Wednesday, killing eight people, and Houthi forces shelled a Saudi air defense site near Najran on Thursday.

Two more Saudis were killed when Houthi shells struck a village in Jizan province, which also borders on north Yemen.

The official Saudi news agency SPA said the air raids, which started late on Thursday, hit four Houthi command-and-control centers, two in the Saada provincial town of Bani Maaz, and destroyed a mine factory in the ancient quarter of Saada city as well as a communications hub in the Mothalath area.

‘Our work now is reaching those (Houthis) who planned these attacks and who are hiding in Saada, and the places where the militias are,’ Saudi-led coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri told Al Ekhbariya state television.

Al Ekhbariya said all civilians in Saada province had been asked to clear out by 7pm local time on Friday, when the entire rugged desert region would be designated a military zone.

‘Saudi-led forces announce that all the main roads of Saada are available for civilians to leave until sunset,’ it said.

Saada residents said the air strikes damaged the tomb of the founder of the Houthi movement, Hussein al-Houthi.

There was also heavy shelling in the west of Saada province, near the Saudi-Yemen border, and 13 villagers were killed in strikes on Hajja province, also near the frontier, locals said.

The figures could not be independently verified.

In the southeastern province of Shabwa, coalition forces carried out at least five air strikes in the vicinity of Ataq airport and in Ataq city itself, local security sources said.