For the first time since the start of the war with Hamas last October, the Israeli military carried out an airstrike against Houthi rebels in Yemen. The attack, which caused a massive fire in the port of Hodeidah and left at least six people dead and more than 80 injured, came a day after the Islamist group, which has close ties to Iran, launched a drone strike in the heart of Tel Aviv. a man was killed.
This is an unexpected escalation, a flare-up that prolongs the war, at a time when most people were focused on what would happen to the Gaza Strip when Israeli forces withdrew, as well as on the rulings of the International Court of Justice.
Israel said its F-15 fighter jets struck several targets in Hodeidah. Fuel tanks were engulfed in flames, while the city’s power plant was completely destroyed, a Houthi official said. Health authorities said scores of people were killed and more than 80 were wounded.
The Israeli military stressed that the strike was in retaliation for hundreds of attacks by Yemeni rebels against the country. With Yemen more than 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) from Israel, it is one of the furthest strikes carried out by the Israeli air force, said Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israeli Armed Forces (IDF).
“From the beginning of the war, I have made it clear that Israel will harm anyone who harms us,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said immediately after the attacks. The latest attack “makes it clear to our enemies that there is no place where the long arm of the State of Israel cannot reach,” he said.
Why was the door targeted?
Israeli and U.S. defense officials said the United States was notified ahead of the operation. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has spoken twice with his Israeli counterpart since Friday.
An Israeli military official said the airstrikes targeted “dual-use facilities” inside the port, which is “the main supply route for the transport of Iranian weapons to Yemen.”
Images of a massive fire at a fuel depot yesterday after Israeli strikes were launched on the Houthi-controlled port city of Hodeidah in Yemen
▪︎ July 20, 2024 ▪︎#Yemen #Israel #HouthisAttack pic.twitter.com/mnj03fBv1X
– DISASTER TRACKER (@DisasterTrackHQ) July 21, 2024
Such transfers would violate a United Nations arms embargo against the extremist group that has been in place for nearly a decade. Tehran denies arming the Houthis, despite abundant evidence to the contrary. A modified version of Iran’s Samad drone was likely used in the Tel Aviv attack, the Israeli military said.
Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam said the Israeli army had struck civilian targets. However, the rebels are known to have used the port of Hodeidah as a key base for launching missile and drone attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
However, it also houses civilian facilities, including grain silos that are essential for Yemen’s chronically malnourished population.
Dangerous climb
Experts warn of a dangerous escalation that could arise in uncontrolled situations.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, the Houthi representative explained that “the response to Israel is inevitable and will be huge.” At the same time, he clarified that there are “no red lines” in the form that the response will take. “All sensitive institutions, at all levels, will be a target for us,” he said.
In an indication of the prevailing concerns in the region following the events, Saudi Arabia (which has been in conflict with the Houthis in Yemen for years) called on all parties to exercise “maximum restraint”.
#Declaration | The Itamaraty is following with great concern the evolution of the military escalation in Yemen following the Israeli attacks in Al Hudaydah, which worsens the current tension in the region and hinders ongoing efforts to end the war in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/WMMJVMewnS
– Ministry of Foreign Affairs (@KSAmofaEN) July 21, 2024