Israel has carried out its first direct air raid on Yemen, with videos capturing the significant military action and its immediate aftermath.
According to the IDF, the strike on Hodeidah’s port city was a “response” to actions taken by Houthi militants.
For the first time, on Saturday, the Israeli military conducted a significant air strike directly targeting the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah. The attack caused extensive damage to various facilities at its oil terminal and resulted in an enormous fire outbreak.
According to a statement by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the strikes are retaliatory measures in response to Yemen-based Houthi militants’ long-range missile and drone attacks on Israeli-affiliated civilian ships.
The military stated that they have recently targeted the military sites of the Houthi terrorist regime near Yemen’s Hodeidah port. This was done in response to numerous attacks carried out against Israel over several months. The IDF fighter jets were behind this action.
Evidence on social media indicates that the attacks focused primarily on the extensive oil terminal located at the port, as various storage tanks were observed engulfed in flames.
Later on, the flames extended as apparently flaming fuel leaked out of ruptured tanks and created a single wall of fire. Local media reports suggest that casualties occurred due to the attack.
Later in the day, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, stated that according to his allegation, Iranian weaponry had been received by Houthis using the port.
Additionally, he brought up a drone strike in Tel Aviv that resulted in the loss of one life and caused at least ten injuries near the US Embassy’s branch office located within the city. The Houthis proclaimed this attack as a “meaningful military endeavor” due to their possession of an advanced drone capable of circumventing interception techniques employed by adversaries.
Since October, the Houthis have been targeting merchant vessels linked to Israel in a show of solidarity with Palestinians living in Gaza. The Shia Islamist group controls the largest and most populous region of Yemen. In response to these attacks, a coalition led by both the US and UK has launched airstrikes against them.
Despite the bombing campaign, it seems that little progress has been made as the Houthis persist in attacking commercial ships and UN navy vessels. The group has issued a warning stating they will not remain idle following Israel’s airstrikes on Hodeidah.
