Following an evacuation warning, Israel on Tuesday struck Yemen's Houthi-controlled Hodeidah port, while saying it had targeted infrastructure held by the Iran-backed group.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had struck “a military infrastructure site belonging to the Huthi terrorist regime at the Hodeida port in Yemen.”
The IDF further accused Houthis of using the port for the “transfer of weapons supplied by the Iranian regime, in order to execute attacks against the State of Israel and its allies”, AFP reported
“12 Israeli enemy air strikes targeted the port of Hodeida,” the Houti-run ‘ Al-Masirah television reported. Meanwhile, Yemeni military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group's air defences were engaged in a confrontation with “Israeli enemy aircraft launching an aggression against our country,” according to the AFP report.
Saree further alleged that the Houthi air defense had “caused great confusion” among the Israeli aircraft, adding that they had forced some combat formations to leave Yemeni airspace, preventing deep incursion into Yemen.
This came hours after Israeli military spokesperson, Col. Avichay Adraee, urged residents in the port city to evacuate.
“Urgent Warning to Everyone Present at the Port of Hodeidah in Yemen…The Defense Army will attack in the coming hours in the area specified on the map in light of the military activities carried out by the terrorist Houthi regime there,” Adraee said in a post on X.
{{/usCountry}}“Urgent Warning to Everyone Present at the Port of Hodeidah in Yemen…The Defense Army will attack in the coming hours in the area specified on the map in light of the military activities carried out by the terrorist Houthi regime there,” Adraee said in a post on X.
{{/usCountry}}The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman further warned that those who chose to stay back would be “putting their life in danger.”
Israel has intensified attacks on Yemen over the last month, striking targets in the country's Capital of Sanaa and adjoining Jawf province.
The attack led to the deaths of 46 people, injuring more than 160 others, according to the Houthi-run health ministry, and had targeted a military headquarters and a fuel station. The attacks were in response to the Houthi rebels' drone attack which struck an Israeli airport.
Before this, Israel's strikes on Yemen on August 30 also killed Houthi their prime minister and nearly half of his cabinet.