Houthis Display Military Strength in Yemen's Hodeidah amid Drop in US Strikes

A photo of a naval torpedo released by the Houthis, claiming it is among their new weapons. (X platform)
A photo of a naval torpedo released by the Houthis, claiming it is among their new weapons. (X platform)
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Houthis Display Military Strength in Yemen's Hodeidah amid Drop in US Strikes

A photo of a naval torpedo released by the Houthis, claiming it is among their new weapons. (X platform)
A photo of a naval torpedo released by the Houthis, claiming it is among their new weapons. (X platform)

As US-led airstrikes to weaken the Houthis’ capacity to attack ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden decrease, the Iran-backed group displayed its military might in Hodeidah province, claiming to challenge Washington and Yemeni government forces.

The Houthis gathered thousands of fighters for a joint naval and ground exercise, claiming to have new weapons, including torpedoes, mines, unmanned submarines, and boats.

This show of strength comes amid concerns about a potential international military operation to reclaim the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, which is held by the Houthis.

Alongside a naval exercise that the Houthis claim simulates defense against potential landings, the group conducted ground maneuvers in mountainous and desert areas using artillery, drones, tanks, and various machine guns and sniper rifles.

Recent actions by the Houthis, along with statements from their leaders, indicate fears of an upcoming military operation to reclaim Hodeidah and its ports.

This is evident in the significant reinforcements they have sent to the coastal province, which they control, except for the districts of Al-Khokha and Al-Tuhayata, held by the legitimate Yemeni government.

The government has called on the international community in recent months to address the Houthi threats to maritime navigation.

Officials argue that the best way to stop the group’s attacks on ships is to support government forces rather than rely on US-led airstrikes that have been ongoing since January.

Informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Houthis have moved large reinforcements from Al-Jawf, Dhamar, Sanaa, and Ibb to Hodeidah.

They have also fortified their positions along the front lines, digging more trenches and laying additional minefields in preparation for any surprise attacks from government forces with international support.

In recent days, US operations against Houthi positions have slowed, allowing the group to carry out extensive maneuvers in Hodeidah without facing airstrikes.

On Oct. 17, Washington used stealth bombers for the first time to target Houthi strongholds in Sanaa and Saada, a move seen as a message primarily aimed at Iran.

The Houthis have reported over 770 Western airstrikes since January 12, part of efforts to curb the group’s ability to attack ships in the Red Sea.

The Houthis claim their attacks support the Palestinians in Gaza and, more recently, Hezbollah in Lebanon.

However, the Yemeni government accuses them of furthering Iran’s agenda in the region and avoiding the stalled peace process due to their maritime and regional escalation.

The group alleges it has targeted over 195 vessels in the past year. The Red Sea attacks have led to the sinking of two ships, the hijacking of a third, the deaths of three sailors, and injuries to others.

In recent months, the Houthis have launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel, though most have had little effect, except for one drone that killed a person in an apartment in Tel Aviv on July 19.

In response, Israel struck fuel storage facilities in Hodeidah on July 20, killing six people and injuring about 80 others.

Israeli airstrikes continued on September 29, targeting fuel depots in Hodeidah and Ras Isa, as well as two power plants and the city’s airport, which has been inactive for years. These strikes resulted in four deaths and around 30 injuries, according to the Houthis.



US Tracking Nearly 500 Incidents of Civilian Harm During Israel’s Gaza War

 People pray by the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip October 30, 2024. (Reuters)
People pray by the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip October 30, 2024. (Reuters)
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US Tracking Nearly 500 Incidents of Civilian Harm During Israel’s Gaza War

 People pray by the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip October 30, 2024. (Reuters)
People pray by the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip October 30, 2024. (Reuters)

US State Department officials have identified nearly 500 potential incidents of civilian harm during Israel's military operations in Gaza involving US-furnished weapons, but have not taken further action on any of them, three sources, including a US official familiar with the matter, said this week.

The incidents - some of which might have violated international humanitarian law, according to the sources - have been recorded since Oct. 7, 2023, when the Gaza war started. They are being collected by the State Department's Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance, a formal mechanism for tracking and assessing any reported misuse of US-origin weapons.

State Department officials gathered the incidents from public and non-public sources, including media reporting, civil society groups and foreign government contacts.

The mechanism, which was established in August 2023 to be applied to all countries that receive US arms, has three stages: incident analysis, policy impact assessment, and coordinated department action, according to a December internal State Department cable reviewed by Reuters.

None of the Gaza cases had yet reached the third stage of action, said a former US official familiar with the matter. Options, the former official said, could range from working with Israel's government to help mitigate harm, to suspending existing arms export licenses or withholding future approvals.

The Washington Post first reported the nearly 500 incidents on Wednesday.

The Biden administration has said it is reasonable to assess that Israel has breached international law in the conflict, but assessing individual incidents was "very difficult work," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Wednesday.

"We are conducting those investigations, and we are conducting them thoroughly, and we are conducting them aggressively, but we want to get to the right answer, and it's important that we not jump to a pre-ordained result, and that we not skip any of the work," Miller said, adding that Washington consistently raises concerns over civilian harm with Israel.

The administration of President Joe Biden has long said it is yet to definitively assess an incident in which Israel has violated international humanitarian law during its operation in Gaza.

John Ramming Chappell, advocacy and legal adviser at the Center for Civilians in Conflict, said the Biden administration "has consistently deferred to Israeli authorities and declined to do its own investigations."

"The US government hasn't done nearly enough to investigate how the Israeli military uses weapons made in the United States and paid for by US taxpayers," he said.

The civilian harm process does not only look at potential violations of international law but at any incident where civilians are killed or injured and where US arms are implicated, and looks at whether this could have been avoided or reduced, said one US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A review of an incident can lead to a recommendation that a unit needs more training or different equipment, as well as more severe consequences, the official said.

Israel's military conduct has come under increasing scrutiny as its forces have killed more than 43,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the enclave's health authorities.

The latest episode of bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 250 others, according to Israeli tallies.