At least six people have died after Israel’s attack on a port in the city of al-Hudaydah in Yemen, the Iran-backed Houthi movement’s health authority says.
At the same time, critical voices are being raised from experts who believe that the attack does not harm the Huthi movement – but civilians, in a Yemen affected by war, poverty and famine.
During Friday, the Israeli city of Tel Aviv was subjected to a drone attack in which one man was killed and eight injured, writes TT. Ultimately, it was the Houthi movement that claimed responsibility for the attack.
It was accompanied by an attack by Israel, which targeted a port in the city of al-Hudaydah in Yemen. A huge fire broke out and in addition to the deaths, 83 people were injured and three are still missing. According to Houthi leader Mohammed Abdulsalam, the attack targeted fuel depots and a power plant.
According to Israel’s military (IDF), the port is used to receive Iranian weapons, such as the drone used in the attack on Tel Aviv.
More attacks may come
It is the first time that Israel has claimed an attack on Yemen and Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warns that more may come if the Houthis “dare to attack us”.
– The blood of Israeli citizens has a price, said Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Saturday.
At the same time, several experts, both regional and international, believe that the attack will not harm the Huthi movement, but rather the civilian population, which is already in a deep humanitarian crisis, reports New York Times.
The port is used for food imports
The port that was attacked is a key transit route for food imports, fuel and aid reaching over 20 million people in the impoverished parts of Yemen.
– The target of the attack does more damage to the average Yemeni than the ability of the Houthis to launch attacks on the Red Sea or Israel. Hitting a radar site, a known launch site or another military target could disrupt the Houthis’ capabilities for a few days more than the port, Adam Clements, a retired US Army attaché for Yemen, told the New York Times.
And rebuilding what was destroyed in the port will take time and resources, in a country where much of the infrastructure is already destroyed. That is according to Mohammed Albasha, senior Middle East expert at the research organization Navanti Group.
He predicted the repairs could cause “severe fuel shortages throughout northern Yemen” that could have consequences for other vital resources, such as diesel generators for hospitals.
If the power plant was damaged in the attack, it will “further exacerbate the suffering of the local population,” according to Albasha, as the population depends on electricity as Yemen’s summer temperatures climb above 40 degrees.