Israel’s war on Gaza live: Israel attacks Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah
- Houthi-run media say Israeli air strikes have targeted oil storage facilities in the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah and that there are an unspecified number of fatalities and injuries.
- The Israeli military says it struck “military targets” of Houthis in response to attacks on Israel. On Friday, a drone attack claimed by the Houthis killed one person in the centre of Tel Aviv and wounded at least 10 others.
Israel’s attack on Hodeidah marks ‘beginning of new stage’
Israel’s attack on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah marks the beginning of a new stage in the Middle East that has the potential of spiralling out of control, military and political analyst Elijah Magnier tells Al Jazeera.
While the statement made by Gallant indicates Israel intended its strike as a deterrent, it is unlikely it will have such an effect, Magnier said.
“Is this going to change the course of action of a nonstate actor that is motivated to support the people of Gaza? Certainly not,” Magnier said. “They’ve been given a perfect reason to increase the attacks.”
The analyst added that the fact the Houthi drone that struck Tel Aviv on Friday went undetected shows Iran has progressively been providing its allies with more sophisticated weapons and will continue to do so.
“We have not seen the end of it – far from it,” he said.
Pakistan announces committee to boycott companies supporting Israel
Pakistan has announced it is forming a committee to identify companies to boycott for supporting Israel, Wafa reports.
“A committee has also been constituted to identify such companies and products in Pakistan that may be directly or indirectly abetting Israel or forces committing war crimes against Palestinians,” said Rana Sanaullah, adviser on political affairs to the prime minister.
Sanaullah also told reporters in Islamabad that “Pakistan will use every possible means to help Palestinians and condemn Israel as a terrorist country”.
Full report: Israel says it strikes Yemen’s Hodeidah in response to Houthi attacks
The air raids against the port city come a day after a drone attack by the Yemeni group killed one person in Tel Aviv.
Israeli military says it hits ‘terror targets’ in Yemen
Israel says it has attacked Houthi “terror targets”, including dual-use sites such as energy infrastructure.
According to Reuters, an Israeli military official who declined to be identified also said Israel had updated its allies prior to carrying out the attack against Houthi targets in Yemen.
Houthi official says Israel will ‘pay the price’ for Yemen strikes
Israel’s air strikes on the Houthi-held port city of Hodeidah will not stop Houthi military operations in support of the Palestinian people, Houthi political bureau member Mohammed al-Bukhaiti says, warning they will instead increase until the war in Gaza ends.
“The Zionist entity will pay the price for targeting civilian facilities, and we will meet escalation with escalation,” al-Bukhaiti said in a post on X.
How did tensions between Yemen’s Houthis and Israel soar over Gaza?
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been conducting attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden as part of what they say is a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians suffering under Israel’s war in Gaza.
The Iran-allied group has been targeting vessels it says are linked to Israel. Organisations including Human Rights Watch have said the group is endangering civilians on ships that have no connection to any known military target.
The attacks have disrupted global trade and forced shipping companies to reroute their vessels. In response, the US and UK have been conducting air strikes in Yemen for months. The military campaign, however, has failed to stop the Houthi attacks.
On Friday, the Houthi group claimed responsibility for a drone strike in Tel Aviv that killed one person. It was the first time the group was known to have hit Tel Aviv. The drone was undetected by Israel’s air defence system, which is usually highly effective.
Israel has now responded directly to the attack, striking Yemen’s Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, potentially opening a new front in southern Yemen and enlarging a war that already sees the Israeli military fighting in Gaza and on the northern border with Lebanon.
Israeli attack will not stop Yemen from supporting Gaza: Houthis
Mohammed Abdulsalam, the Houthis’ spokesman, has called the Israeli air strikes on the Hodeidah port’s oil tanks and power-generating facility “a brutal Israeli aggression against Yemen that aims to deepen people’s suffering, and to pressure Yemen to stop supporting Gaza”.
In a post on X, Abdulsalam called the attack an Israeli “dream that will not come true. We affirm that this brutal aggression will only increase the determination of the Yemeni people and their valiant armed forces to be steadfast and to continue their support for Gaza”.
He concluded: “The Yemeni people are able to face all challenges for the sake of victory for oppressed Palestine and the people of Gaza, whose cause is the most just on earth.”
Central Gaza under attack as it lacks medical supplies
The focus of the Israeli bombardment is currently on the central part of the Gaza Strip. Casualties are being taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah as staff are exhausted and departments are struggling to provide the minimum healthcare for injured Palestinians.
What they have been observing is that a large share of the casualties were children. The attack on the Bureij refugee camp has injured at least four children who underwent surgery, including amputations.
Al-Aqsa Hospital is taking in the injured from Bureij and Nuseirat and is responsible for providing medical care for 700,000 displaced Palestinians inside Deir el-Balah as Israel continues to ban the entry of medical supplies. This adds to the misery as the hospital struggles with a severe lack of resources.
Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City is also operating with a very limited capacity and few supplies. Doctors we’ve been speaking to say they need to carry out critical surgeries but are unable to do so.
