20 July 2024 , 21:06
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Oil depot and electrical installations reportedly targeted in powerful attack on Red Sea port city
Powerful airstrikes rocked the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah a day after Israeli officials vowed revenge for a drone that struck Tel Aviv.
Airstrikes hit a refinery and electricity infrastructure, sparking a huge blaze. It was the first direct hit on Yemen since Houthi rebels there began targeting Israel with missiles and drones last year.
All of those attacks had been intercepted, until Friday’s strike on Tel Aviv killed one person and injured at least 10.
The Almasirah television channel, run by Yemen’s Houthi movement, said on Saturday evening that airstrikes had targeted the city.
Images circulating on social media, which could not be immediately verified, showed vast plumes of smoke and fire next to the port. Almasirah said the strikes on the oil facilities resulted in fatalities.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its fighter jets struck military targets in the Hodeidah Port in Yemen “in response to the hundreds of attacks carried out against the State of Israel in recent months.”
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said later in the evening that the port was targeted as it was used “for military purposes”.
The strike, he added, “makes it clear to our enemies that there is no place that the long arm of the state of Israel will not reach”.
Defence minister Yoav Gallant said “the fire that is currently burning in Hodeidah is seen across the Middle East and the significance is clear … 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 Houthis vowed to “plague” Israel with further attacks in response to the strikes.
Almasirah TV initially said the strikes in Hodeidah were carried out by US and British forces but later deleted the reference, according to Reuters. British and US forces have carried out repeated strikes on Hodeidah, as recently as last month.
The Saudi Arabian outlet Al Arabiya, citing unnamed sources, said the strikes targeting a fuel depot and oil refineries at the port were carried out in a joint operation by Israel, the US and the UK. It said 12 Israeli aircraft, including F-35 model fighter jets, participated in the strikes.
Four US officials said Israel acted alone on Saturday’s attacks on the Houthis, with no US military involvement, the New York Times reported.
The latest airstrikes in Hodeidah follow a vow by Gallant, to “settle the score” after a Houthi drone struck central Tel Aviv, killing one man and injuring 10 other people. The Houthis immediately took responsibility for the attack, claiming they had used a new type of drone undetectable to radar and air defence systems.
Israeli officials instead blamed “human error” and said the military was investigating what went wrong. Chief military spokesperson Rear Adm Daniel Hagari said the drone had been detected by air defences but an “error” meant it was not intercepted.
Local police described how the drone exploded over an apartment block, causing a blast that shook the port city, killed one and unsettled residents, disturbed by the rare attack.
Gallant pledged to strengthen Israeli air defences after the attack amid an increase in rocket attacks from Hezbollah that struck northern Israel. The IDF said a barrage of 40 rockets targeted the occupied Golan Heights and Galilee in the day after the drone attack, challenging Israeli air defences.
Yemen’s Houthis, an Iran-backed militia that control much of the country’s west including the coastline, have targeted ships in the Gulf of Aden and disrupted maritime activity in the Red Sea for months in response to Israeli attacks in Gaza.
Israel shot down a suspected Houthi drone headed for the Red Sea port of Eilat earlier this month with a fighter jet, while the group’s attacks on shipping have majorly disrupted business at the key Israeli port.
The US and UK have struck the port city of Hodeidah repeatedly in response, despite the group’s pledges to continue their attacks as long as the war in Gaza goes on.
Israeli air, naval and artillery strikes on the enclave have killed more than 38,000 people since October.
Netanyahu is preparing to travel to the US to address Congress on Wednesday while under growing domestic and international pressure to agree a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza and to bring hostages home.
This was deepened by a broad and damning ruling on Friday from the UN’s international court of justice (ICJ) that Israel’s settlement policies and occupation of the West Bank break international law.
The ICJ ordered Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories “as rapidly as possible” and make full reparations. It is non-binding, but will be difficult for Israel’s allies to ignore, not least because the court also ruled that states are under an obligation not to recognise the occupation as lawful nor to aid or assist it.
Britain’s Foreign Office on Friday restated its commitment to a two-state solution, as it “carefully considers” the ruling.
Foreign secretary David Lammy also announced the UK would resume funding to Unwra, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees on Friday, marking a rare split with Washington over policy on the Gaza war.
Labour pledged in its election manifesto to recognise a Palestinian state as part of a peace process, to create a “safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state”, but did not set a date.
Netanyahu responded to the ICJ ruling, which other Israeli politicians attacked as antisemitic, by effectively claiming both the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.
“The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land, including in our eternal capital Jerusalem nor in Judea and Samaria,” he said in a statement on Friday, using biblical terms for the occupied West Bank that are common in Israel.
On Wednesday the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, passed a resolution opposing the establishment of a Palestinian state. Supporters included Benny Gantz, Netanyahu’s main political rival.
The US criticised “the breadth” of the ICJ’s ruling. “We have been clear that Israel’s program of government support for settlements is both inconsistent with international law and obstructs the cause of peace,” a US state department spokesperson said on Saturday.
“However, we are concerned that the breadth of the court’s opinion will complicate efforts to resolve the conflict,” it added.
The state department said the ICJ opinion that Israel must withdraw as soon as possible from the Palestinian territories was “inconsistent with the established framework” for resolving the conflict.
Washington said that framework took into account Israel’s security needs, which it says were highlighted by the 7 October attacks on Israel.