(Hodeidah) Yemeni rebels on Sunday threatened Israel with a “huge response” to its deadly strikes on the port of Hodeidah, still in flames, in a new regional escalation linked to the war in Gaza, which has entered its tenth month.
In this explosive context, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet US President Joe Biden in Washington on Tuesday, before a speech the following day to Congress, to try to strengthen ties with the United States, which have been undermined by the conflict in Gaza, triggered on 7 October by an attack by Palestinian Hamas in Israel.
Allies of Iran, Israel’s sworn enemy, the Yemeni Houthi rebels and the Lebanese Hezbollah have opened fronts with Israel, in “support” of the Palestinians in the small Palestinian territory, besieged and pounded relentlessly since October 7.
A day after a deadly drone attack in Tel Aviv by the Houthis, Israeli aircraft on Saturday bombed the strategic port of Hodeidah held by the rebels in the west of war-torn Yemen, killing six people and wounding dozens, according to the insurgents.
The Israeli military claimed that the targeted port area served as a “main supply route for the movement of Iranian weapons from Iran to Yemen,” including “the drone used” against Tel Aviv.
As firefighters work to extinguish the massive blaze caused by Israeli raids on the port of Hodeidah, a key entry point for fuel and humanitarian aid to Yemen, the Houthis have reiterated their threats against Israel.
“The response to the Israeli aggression against our country is inevitable and will be enormous,” warned their military spokesman, Yahya Saree.
Further operations against the Houthis will follow “if they dare to attack us,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said.
Missile intercepted
After the port strike, the first claimed by Israel in Yemen, the Israeli army said it had intercepted a missile coming from Yemen “which was approaching Israel” in the direction of the seaside resort of Eilat (South).
Yahya Saree confirmed missile strikes on Eilat.
At war since 2014 against the Houthis who control large swathes of Yemen, the Yemeni government, recognized by the international community and supported by Saudi Arabia, has condemned the Israeli raids.
But he also warned the rebels against dragging Yemen into “senseless battles that serve the interests of the Iranian regime and its expansionist project.”
The port is burning
In Tehran, the Foreign Ministry condemned “the attacks of the Zionist regime” in Yemen and said it held Israel and its allies, including the United States, “responsible for the dangerous consequences of the continuation of crimes in Gaza and attacks against Yemen.”
Meanwhile in Hodeidah, fuel tanks and a power plant are still on fire, according to a port employee.
PHOTO ASSOCIATED PRESS
An injured Yemeni worker receives medical treatment at Al-Thawrah hospital on July 20 in Hodeidah.
Thick plumes of black smoke are covering the port area, an AFP correspondent noted.
“There are fears that poorly equipped firefighters will not be able to contain the spread of the fire” for several days, said Mohammed Albasha, a Middle East analyst for the American group Navanti, warning that food storage facilities could be affected.
This raises fears of worsening shortages in this poor country on the Arabian Peninsula, where the war has caused a major humanitarian crisis.
Fronts in Gaza and Lebanon
Since November, the Houthis have been carrying out attacks on ships believed to be linked to Israel off the coast of Yemen, and have fired missiles at Israeli towns, most of which have been intercepted.
Much closer than Yemen, located about 1,800 km from Israel, the front with Hezbollah in Lebanon is marked by almost daily hostilities on the common border.
On Sunday, the Israeli army bombed two “Hezbollah weapons storage” depots in southern Lebanon. It then reported that rockets fired from Lebanon had fallen in northern Israel.
Despite international fears of a regional conflagration, the war in Gaza is showing no respite as Israel’s devastating offensive continues.
On Sunday, Israeli soldiers carried out a large-scale operation in Rafah (south) with intense bombardments and fighting with Hamas.
According to data from the Hamas-run Gaza government’s health ministry, 38,983 people have died in Gaza, mostly civilians, since October 7.
That day, Hamas – considered a terrorist group by Israel, the United States and the European Union – carried out an attack in southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data.
Of the 251 people abducted, 116 are still being held in Gaza, 42 of whom are dead, according to the army.