Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
Israeli strikes hit on May 16 two key Red Sea ports controlled by the Houthis (Ansar Allah) in the western Yemeni province of al-Hodeida.
In a statement, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that it struck infrastructure at the ports of al-Hodeidah and Salif in response to recent missile and drone attacks by the Houthis. Dozens of Israeli Air Force aircraft were involved in the strikes, including fighter jets, refuelers and spy planes, according to the military.
“These ports are used for the transfer of weapons and are another example of the cynical exploitation of civilian infrastructure by the Houthi terror regime to advance terror,” the military says.
The attack came a day after the Houthis launched a “hypersonic ballistic missile” at Ben Gurion Airport in central Israel. The IDF said that the missile was intercepted by air defenses. Still operations at Ben Gurion were disturbed. Debris from the missile also fell near a settlement in the occupied West Bank.
The ports of al-Hodeidah and Salif were both targeted by the IDF before, as was Sanaa International Airport in the Yemeni capital.
According to the IDF, the recent strikes on Yemen were carried out to “deepen the damage to the Houthis’ terror capabilities.”
The military later said that it will take the Houthis about a month to restore the two ports, which were hit by some 35 munitions. The goal was to “neutralize” the ports, to prevent the Houthis from bringing in more Iranian weapons, and to harm the group economically, according to the military.
Earlier in the week, the IDF called on civilians to evacuate the two ports in al-Hodeidah, along with a third one, Ras Isa, which was not targeted.
“In light of the Houthi terror regime’s use of these ports for terror purposes, the IDF reiterates its warning to those present at the ports to distance themselves and evacuate the area,” the military said.
An Israeli defense source told Army Radio that the IDF waited until the end of United States President Trump’s visit to the Middle East before launching its reprisal strikes on the Houthis.
The Houthi-run Al-Masirah news channel confirmed that the port of al-Hodeidah and Salif were hit by multiple strikes, without reporting any casualties.
Following the attack, Defense Minister Israel Katz threatens to eliminate Houthi leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, if the group continues to launch attacks against Israel.
“The IDF now struck and severely damaged the ports in Yemen that are under the control of the Houthi terror group. The airport in Sanaa also remains destroyed,” Katz said on the X social network.
“As we said, if the Houthis continue to fire missiles on Israel, they will suffer painful blows, and we will also strike the heads of terror just as we did to Deif and the Sinwars in Gaza, to Nasrallah in Beirut and Haniyeh in Tehran,” the minister continued, referring to the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah Israel has assassinated and attempted to kill.
“We will hunt down and eliminate Abdul-Malik al-Houthi in Yemen as well. We will defend ourselves by our own strength against any enemy,” he added.
The strikes will not likely deter the Houthis, who withstood a more powerful attack by the U.S. for over a month earlier this year. Israel, from its side, will not likely hesitate to assassinate Houthi leaders if it got the chance to. This won’t be easy, however.
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the pathetic, tiny, parasitic, welfare funded, banana republic of israel won’t succeed where us navy so miserably failed. the only thing israelis are good at is killing defenseless, innocent women and children in places like gaza where there is zero anti aircraft defenses.
they succeeded only becaue they have sbverted so many shabbosgoy idiots among us to do their bidding and who are holding a voilence monopoly over those of who are awake and prepared to do what it takes to remove these jews from our institutions and governments.
the only way to stop these zionist psychopaths is by liberating our governments from their infiltration getting rid of all the sbverted shabbosgoy traitors among us and cut all funding and aid to the parasitic zionist colonial project. on its own its cannot exist it exist solely on holohoax extortion billions per year and billions in aid they extort from western governments
the world should reduce israël terror capabilies. nothing should be better for peace on the planet.
they will attempt to assassinate him regardless if he stops or not at the first oppertunity they have. its what these jews do. unfortunately none of these groups is doing it back to those calling the shots in the knesset and the mossad. they would stop attempting so many assassinations if they would be paid back in even coin every time they did it.
and an even better response would be if a houti missile would level the mossad hq. disrupting their operations for a good while.
the chosen-ite mind babbles threats and lies as truth . a mossad / idf death by israel is more likley to unify the yemen people . but israel threatning all of its neighbors seems to be a daily ritual . ( along with all those regional attacks )
israel can’t get to yemen, it was usa obviously. keep trying, killers of women and children never will be successful, they still are stuck on outskirts of gaza….
get netanyahu first.
israel is the modern day assyria. debached, immoral and relying on excessive foce for everything. like assyria, israel will fail and collapse