Israel Attacks Yemen for First Time

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed to Newsweek on Saturday that fighter jets struck Houthi “military targets” in the area of the Al Hudaydah Port in western Yemen.

The IDF say the strikes are “in response to the hundreds of attacks” carried out by the Iran-backed group against Israel over the past months. This was the first confirmed report of an Israeli strike on Yemen, which is over 1,000 miles away.

Preliminary reports from the Ministry of Health in Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, translated from Arabic, said that at least 80 people were wounded in the strikes, many with severe burns. Emergency services teams are still working to recover victims, so the number is likely to increase, the statement said.

Nasruddin Amer, a Houthi spokesperson, posted on X, formerly Twitter, a video of the Yemeni port on fire after “Israeli aggression,” as the English translation of the caption reads. “Yemen’s position with Gaza is firm and will not change, and the Yemeni operations supporting Gaza will not stop. The response to this aggression is inevitable, and the Yemeni people are stronger than all the forces of evil,” he reaffirmed.

Houthi spokesperson Mohammad Abdulsalam also wrote on social media that the attacks seek “to increase the suffering of the people and to pressure Yemen to stop supporting Gaza,” according to the Associated Press.

An IDF spokesperson also told Newsweek that “there are no changes in the Home Front Command defensive guidelines.”

In the IDF’s latest post on X, it said the “port serves as an entryway for Iranian weapons for the Houthi terrorist regime,” and warned that “the IDF is capable of operating anywhere required and will strike any force that endangers Israelis.”

The attack comes a day after the militia group claimed responsibility for a drone attack on Israel’s biggest city, Tel Aviv, which killed one person and wounded at least 10, according to the Associated Press.

The Houthi’s strike was a rare breach of Israel’s “Iron Dome” air-defense system, and the group’s first lethal strike inside Israel, which hit near the U.S. Embassy in the city. Previous Houthi projectiles launched toward Israel had been intercepted.

The group is part of this “Axis of Resistance, they want to isolate Israel and pressure Israel to the extent that they can,” Alex Vatanka, the director of the Middle East Institute’s Iran program, told Newsweek in a phone interview. He noted that “there are more than just Iran as an actor involved in this, but there’s no doubt that Iran plays a central role as a provider of diplomatic support, a supporter of the Houthis.”

On Friday, thousands of Yemenis took to the streets of the capital celebrating the strike on Israel and showing solidarity with Palestinians, with many waving Palestinian flags.

“Yemen has always been pro-Palestinian as a country,” Vatanka said.

In response to the attack, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said yesterday, “We are fighting a multi front war: Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the militias in Iraq and Syria, as well as the Houthies in Yemen, all the Iranian proxies, and Iran itself.”

The Houthis have repeatedly attacked dozens of commercial ships in the Red Sea in an act of defiance against continued Israeli offensives in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack, which killed approximately 1,200 people in Israel and took 250 hostages.

Following Hamas’ attack, Israel launched numerous ground and air invasions of Gaza, killing 34,000 Palestinians and displacing over 2 million Palestinians, according to the AP.

On Saturday, the IDF strike reportedly hit storage facilities for oil and diesel in the port city of Hodeidah, another spelling of the Arabic name, according to reporting from the AP and Yemen state media. A large fire is reported to have broken out, with videos of tall flames and billowing black plumes circulating on X.

Vatanka told Newsweek that the Houthi-controlled port “has always been a very important strategic port.”

Farea Al-Muslimi, a Yemeni writer and research fellow at Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa program, told Newsweek in a WhatsApp message on Saturday, “The Israeli response on destroying Hudaydah port will not have a significant impact on the Houthi ballistic weapons or drone capabilities. Rather it will actually worsen the already severe humanitarian crisis in Yemen.”

The United Nations reports that 80 percent of the Yemeni population are in need of humanitarian aid and protection, with “more than 14 million people in acute need and more than three million displaced from their homes since 2015.”

Al-Muslimi said that the port is “one of the most important livelihood ports of aid and food to around 70 percent of Yemeni populations. Hudaydah is already one of the poorest governorates in Yemen.”

He added “those air strikes will drive further response by the Houthis.”

“For the Houthis, it is another rare opportunity to consolidate their control over Yemenis, crack further on opponents under the name of fighting Israel,” and widen the group’s base.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant posted a video on X on Saturday afternoon in Hebrew responding to the Israeli strike and subsequent erupting fire. The English translation of his speech reads, “The fire that is now burning in Yemen is seen all over the Middle East, and it is understood that attacking Israel has a heavy price. The price that is paid in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and other places – is now being paid in Yemen. We are ready to act as necessary against any threat.”

Vatanka said “the message of this fire that is now coming out of Hodeidah after the Israeli strikes,” is meant to change the Houthis’ calculation on their attacks on Israel.

This is a developing story and will be updated with additional information.

Updated 7/20/24 at 5:31 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional context.

Updated 7/20/24 at 3:30 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with IDF’s statement, Al-Muslimi’s comment, and a new photo.

Updated 7/20/24 at 2:05 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with Vatanka’s comment and an updated headline.

Updated 7/20/24 at 1:42 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.