Israel devastates Houthi targets in the Yemeni city of Hodeidah
On July 20th, Israeli warplanes bombed Houthi targets in the city of Hodeidah in Yemen in retaliation for deadly drone strikes carried out by the rebel group in Tel Aviv, reported Asharq al-Awsat and Arab News.
The targets in the western port city included a power plant and an oil and diesel storage facility. The ensuing damage led to the area being enveloped in a large fire, painting the sky with dark plumes of smoke. Several people are reported to have been killed and injured in the surrounding area, with many suffering from severe burns.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant justified the operation, stating, “The Houthis attacked us over 200 times. The first time that they harmed an Israeli citizen, we struck them. And we will do this in any place where it may be required”.
The latest drone attack on Tel Aviv by the Houthis resulted in 1 casualty and ten others wounded.
An IDF official told the press that the port was being used as a main entry point for Iranian weapons.
READ: Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim deadly Tel Aviv drone attack
The Houthi chief negotiator Mohammed Abdul Sallam, based in Muscat, labelled the airstrikes as “blatant Israeli aggression” which targeted “civilian” facilities to “pressure them to stop supporting Gaza,”. The official stated that the Houthis would continue to attack ships and Israel itself until the nation ended its operations in the enclave.
“We emphasise that this brutal aggression will only strengthen the determination and steadfastness of the Yemeni people and their valiant armed forces in their support for Gaza,” posted Sallam on X.
Abdul Sallam Jahaf, a member of the Houthi Shura Council, vowed that the group would retaliate, stating, “We will respond more violently and harshly to this Zionist-American orgy,”
Some political analysts have stated that the Houthis use the bombings to legitimise their rule and crush dissidents within Yemen.
“An Israeli airstrike is precisely what the #Houthis have long sought to legitimise their power consolidation. This event offers a pretext for increased repression of the population & violence in #Yemen and beyond. The Houthis excel at inviting conflict to sustain their authority,” Nadwa Al-Dawsari, a non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C., said on X.
Arab News / Asharq al-Awsat and agencies
