Israeli strike on Yemeni port caused $20 million in damage, official says
Hodeida port official says operations resumed just days after Israeli fighter jets dealt a heavy blow in retaliation for Houthi rebels killing man in Tel Aviv drone strike
An Israeli strike on Yemen’s Houthi-controlled Hodeida port has caused at least $20 million in damage, adding to losses due to the destruction of fuel storage facilities, a port official said on Monday.
The July 20 attack on Hodeida, the main harbor under the control of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, destroyed most of the port’s oil storage capacity and triggered a massive inferno that burned for days.
Israel struck the port in western Yemen after a drone launched by the Houthis on July 19 struck Tel Aviv and killed an Israeli man.
The rebel group said nine people were killed in the retaliatory strike — the first attack ever claimed by Israel on Yemen.
The strike, carried out by dozens of Israeli aircraft, targeted fuel reports and the port’s energy infrastructure, as well as four large container cranes. Israel said the port in general, and the cranes specifically, were used to import Iranian weapons.
Speaking to AFP on Sunday from the harbor after operations resumed last week, port official Nasr al-Nusairi relayed the results of a preliminary damage assessment, saying two of the cranes were destroyed, a small vessel was burnt and a number of buildings were torched.
“There is also damage to the docks,” said Nusairi, the vice president of the Yemen Red Sea Ports Corporation, which runs the Hodeida harbor.
Nusairi estimated the cost of port damage to “exceed $20 million,” noting, however, that the sum does not factor in losses incurred by the destruction of fuel storage facilities which “is the responsibility of the oil ministry.”
The Israel Defense Forces said last week that it estimated the strike to have been a major blow to the Houthi economy. Taking the cranes out of service would also prevent the group from bringing in more Iranian weapons via the port, it said.
The port damage caused a temporary interruption of activities but operations resumed quickly, Nusairi said.
The first two container ships docked in Hodeida three days after the Israeli strike, according to Houthi officials.
The port appeared to be operational on Sunday, with container ships anchored on its docks and workers unloading containers using cranes, according to an AFP photographer who toured the area.
Since November, the Yemeni group has been targeting ships in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel has been waging a war against Hamas since the terrorist organization’s unprecedented October 7 attack, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.
The US and Britain have carried out retaliatory strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, but Saturday’s attack on Hodeida was the first time Israel has taken direct action against the Houthis since they began their attacks in October.
Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.
