Click to see full-size image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched strikes on July 20 against the Houthi-controlled port of al-Hodeida in western Yemen in response to the group’s deadly drone attack that targeted the Israeli city of Tel Aviv a day earlier.
“Fighter jets struck military targets of the Houthi terror regime in the area of the Hodeida Port in Yemen, in response to the hundreds of attacks carried out against the State of Israel in recent months,” the IDF said in a statement.
The strikes marked the first time the IDF has conducted strikes in Yemen. The attack was codenamed “Operation Outstretched Arm.”
At least a dozen IAF aircraft, including F-35 stealth fighter jets, F-15 fighters, reconnaissance aircraft and refueling planes were involved in the attack. Videos taken from the southernmost Israeli city of Eilat showed the Israeli warplanes making its way toward Yemen right before the strikes were reported.
The IDF alleged that al-Hodeida has been used by the Houthis repeatedly to bring in weapons from Iran, and therefore Israel saw it as a legitimate military target.
“This is a complex attack, one of the farthest and longest carried out by the Israeli Air Force. It required careful planning and preparation for a variety of possible threats in the area,” IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a press conference.
The airstrike targeted fuel depots, energy facilities and other facilities at the port. videos posted to social networks showed massive flames and smoke rising from the port.
Three people were killed and 87 wounded in the Israeli strikes, according to Yemen’s Al-Masirah TV, which is run by the Houthis.
Israel acted alone in the strike with no involvement from the United States or any other allies. However, Hebrew media said that Washington was informed of the attack along with Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Israel had threatened a response to the deadly drone attack on Tel Aviv early on July 19, which killed a man and wounded at least eight others. The IDF said that the Iranian-made drone launched by the Houthis was not intercepted by air defenses due to a “human error.”
In an initial response to the Israeli strikes, the Houthis announced on July 21 that they had fired multiple ballistic missiles at Eilat and struck the American-owned merchant vessel Pumba in the Red Sea. The group warned that its main response is yet to come.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces affirms that the response to the Israeli aggression against our country is inevitably coming and will be great and great, God willing,” Houthi military spokesman Brigade General Yahia Sarea said in a statement.
The IDF said that its Arrow 3 long-range air defenses system intercepted a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis outside of Israeli airspace. Sirens had sounded in Eilat amid fears of falling shrapnel. Video footage of the interception surfaced online.
The Houthis have been attacking ships linked to Israel and launching strikes against the country using drones and missiles since November in response to the Israeli war on the Palestinian Gaza Strip. The group made it clear that it won’t stop until the war is over.
All in all, the Israeli strikes on Yemen represent a major escalation. The Houthis will likely step up their attacks, further distracting the IDF from its war in Gaza and the clashes on the border with Lebanon.
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the judaic satanic cult is going to be engulfed in flames. the port of eilat has already declared bankruptcy thanks to the houthis.
squeeze the juice!!! all those shekels will be useless now for them. they have unleashed their own demise…masada 2.0 here we come!!!!
few more strikes and queers will cry on social media, free yemen.
terrorist hunter is an israeli troll pig who screws around with replies to his inane babblings
the saudis bombed the heck out of yemen with us aircraft, they didn’t defeat them. i doubt israel will.
go cry me a sheckel bitch.
well done to the houthis……the israelis like to feel “powerful” when they kill unarmed women and children and bomb countries with no air force. they are pathetic imbred cowards, smooching america dry and blackmailing american politicians with parasite jewish lobbyists. fukk israel. viva ansar allah!
stop the chosenite chest thumping!! the apartheid abomination did not act alone in this terrorist act as they were aided by the us and uk with italy supplying aerial refueling.
israel will be ground down, and will eventually have to capitulate.
time for those houthi boys to move it up a gear with more attacks on those child killing zionists.
doing everything they can to flare-up that illusive, world domination bringing wwiii. i think even this time, they bet on a wrong horse
little israel in big trouble
and yet again, the antichrist state of israel shows the rag haeds how it is done.
let,s see what the rag heads do next.
continue barbecuing houthi terrorists israel, i love them half burned up 🔥🔥🔥
i prefer burnt zionists….they are lower than animals on the food chain
just like the “israelies” to strike at easy targets and thump their chests. hodeida was already one of the most bombed places in the world and they struck at infrastructure and civilians mostly as usual.
had the houthis not been ready to escalate they would not have struck. but they are ready, this is not a good sign for the world’s pedos