Hodeidah Port Suffers $20M Damage in Israeli Attack

Nasr Al-Nasiri, Deputy Chairman of the Red Sea Ports Corporation affiliated with Yemen's Ansar Allah group, disclosed the extent of the losses resulting from the Israeli strike on Hodeidah Port.

French media quoted the Yemeni official stating that the damage to Hodeidah Port exceeds twenty million dollars, with further assessments of damage to oil facilities left to the Ministry of Oil.

Al-Nasiri detailed the material damage, including the destruction of two gantry cranes, a vessel, and several facilities and buildings of the port authority. Additionally, the port's wharves suffered damage, leading to a temporary halt in port activities.

On July 20, Israeli warplanes targeted Hodeidah Port, under the control of Ansar Allah, a day after the group claimed responsibility for a drone attack that killed a person in Tel Aviv. This marked the first instance of Israel claiming an attack on Yemen.

According to Yemen's Saba News Agency, citing the Ministry of Health of Ansar Allah, at least 80 people were injured due to the Israeli airstrikes on Hodeidah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the operation was a direct response to a drone attack by Ansar Allah on July 19, which hit a residential building in central Tel Aviv near the U.S. consulate, killing one person and injuring at least eight others.

Since the escalation of tensions in the Middle East, Ansar Allah has repeatedly launched drones and various types of missiles, which Israeli air defenses have typically intercepted near the Red Sea city of Eilat.

In a related development, Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz announced last Thursday that Israel is prepared to strike areas controlled by Ansar Allah in Yemen again if necessary. In an interview with Bloomberg, Katz affirmed that Israel is ready to attack Ansar Allah-controlled regions again but prefers the U.S.-led international maritime coalition to take the lead in such matters.

"Israel is ready to deliver another blow to the Houthis, although it prefers a coalition of 10 countries led by the United States to wage this war," Katz stated.