Yemeni medics update toll in Israeli strikes on Hodeida to 6 dead, 80 wounded
Firefighters work to control massive blaze at Houthi-controlled port; Iran-backed group says ‘huge’ response is ‘inevitably coming’; Tehran ‘strongly condemns’ attack
Six people were killed and 80 injured in Israel’s strikes on the Houthi-run port in Hodeida in western Yemen on Saturday, medical sources in Yemen told Reuters on Sunday, as the Iran-backed group said firefighting teams were still battling a blaze at the site.
There was no mention of whether the casualties were civilians or members of the US-designated terror group.
The Israeli Air Force struck the port a day after a drone launched by the Houthis hit Tel Aviv, killing an Israeli man. The operation marked the first time Israel has conducted strikes in Yemen.
The strike was aimed at preventing the Houthis from importing Iranian weapons, as well as causing the Iran-backed rebels financial damage. The Israeli military said the port has been used repeatedly to bring in weapons from Iran, and therefore Israel saw it as a legitimate military target.
On Sunday, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group’s “response to the Israeli aggression against our country is inevitably coming and will be huge.”
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has threatened more operations against the Houthis “if they dare to attack” Israel.
Following the strike, the IDF said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen toward the Red Sea resort town of Eilat early Sunday, noting that “the projectile did not cross into Israeli territory.”
Saree confirmed the rebels had fired ballistic missiles at Eilat, the latest in a string of Houthi attempts to hit the port city.
Also Sunday, Iran “strongly condemned” Israel’s strike on the Yemeni port, calling it “an expression of the aggressive behavior of the child-killing Israeli regime.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani added that Israel and its supporters, including the United States, were “directly responsible for the dangerous and unpredictable consequences of the continued crimes in Gaza, as well as the attacks on Yemen.”
Yemen’s Houthi rebels, along with the Hezbollah group in Lebanon, and Hamas in Gaza are part of a Tehran-aligned “axis of resistance” against Israel and its allies. The Islamic Republic has reiterated support for the groups but insisted they were independent in their decision-making and actions.
According to the IDF, Yemen’s Houthis in the past nine months have fired over 220 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones at Israel — mostly toward the southernmost city of Eilat — in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, where Israel is battling Hamas terrorists.
The rebel announcement came as firefighters struggled to contain the blaze at the Hodeida port, with thick plumes of black smoke shrouding the sky above the city, said an AFP correspondent in the area.
The airstrike targeted fuel depots, energy-related sites, and other facilities at the port. Images and video showed massive flames and smoke rising from the port.
Fuel storage tanks and a power plant at the port were still ablaze amid “slow” firefighting efforts, said a Hodeida port employee.
The port employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for security concerns, said it could take days to contain the fire, a view echoed by Yemen experts.
“There is concern that the poorly equipped firefighters may not be able to contain the spreading fire, which could continue for days,” said Mohammed Albasha, senior Middle East analyst for the US-based Navanti Group, warning that it could reach food storage facilities at the harbor.
Hodeida port, a vital entry point for fuel imports and international aid for rebel-held areas of Yemen, had remained largely untouched through the decade-long war between the Houthis and the internationally recognized government propped up by neighboring Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis control swaths of Yemen, including much of its Red Sea coast, and the war has left millions of Yemenis dependent on aid supplied through the port.
Despite Houthi assurances of sufficient fuel stocks, Saturday’s strike triggered fears of worsening shortages, which war-weary Yemenis are ill-equipped to handle.
The attack is “going to have dire humanitarian effects on the millions of ordinary Yemenis living in Huthi-held Yemen,” Nicholas Brumfield, a Yemen expert, said on social media platform X.
It will drive up prices of fuel but also any goods carried by truck, the analyst said.
Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which has been battling the Houthis for nearly a decade, condemned the strike.
A statement carried by the official Saba news agency said the Yemeni government holds “the Zionist entity fully responsible for any repercussions resulting from its air strikes, including the deepening of a humanitarian crisis.”
It also warned the Houthi rebels against dragging the country into “senseless battles that serve the interests of the Iranian regime and its expansionist project in the region.”
