Coalition: Hodeidah Port Is a Threat to Int'l Navigation

Spokesman of the Coalition for the Support of Legitimacy in Yemen, Colonel Turki bin Saleh al-Maliki (SPA)
Spokesman of the Coalition for the Support of Legitimacy in Yemen, Colonel Turki bin Saleh al-Maliki (SPA)
TT
20

Coalition: Hodeidah Port Is a Threat to Int'l Navigation

Spokesman of the Coalition for the Support of Legitimacy in Yemen, Colonel Turki bin Saleh al-Maliki (SPA)
Spokesman of the Coalition for the Support of Legitimacy in Yemen, Colonel Turki bin Saleh al-Maliki (SPA)

In a new development, Coalition for the Support of Legitimacy in Yemen announced on Wednesday that Hodeidah port is not only used for smuggling weapons now, but it has become a starting point to target navigation endangering security and regional and international peace.

Spokesman of the coalition, Colonel Turki bin Saleh al-Maliki said Iran-backed Houthi militias targeted a Saudi oil carrier while it crossed the Red Sea. However, the coalition’s navy intercepted the three boats’ mission and failed their attempt.

Speaking at his weekly press conference at King Salman Base in Riyadh, Maliki explained that the attack was executed by three boats which navigated towards the carrier with one remotely controlled, the other had a team and the third boat contained the bombs. He added that the coalition navy spotted the three crafts and intercepted the boat with the explosives and detonated it.

He stressed that the coalition has a responsibility to the international community to maintain security and stability in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, indicating that the port has become a starting point for the terrorist group to threaten international and regional security.

“It is now necessary the United Nations takes the initiative to receive the port of Hodeidah from the Houthi armed group to help the Yemeni people and to maintain regional and international security and stability,” he added.

Colonel Maliki reviewed video segments showing Houthi militias training on how to target ships, vessels, carriers, and destroyers. He reiterated that these videos prove there are technical support and foreign experts in Yemen. It also debunks the requests to reopen Sanaa airport for navigation since, “no doubt there isn't any navigation safety in Sanaa airport.”

He pointed out that Houthis used radars to monitor the naval ships of the coalition, and commercial vessels crossing Bab al-Mandab, which is a “substantial evidence of the presence of foreign experts in Yemen to support the coupists”.

The Coalition welcomed the statement of UN’s Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator concerning the need to keep all ports open to both aid and commercial vessels so that life-saving assistance reaches those in desperate need in Yemen. The spokesman indicated that the important thing is to consider the reasons that led to such situation and not the results of it, adding that the situation inside Yemen worsened because insurgents “hijacked” the legitimacy and government.

Maliki announced that 14 permits were issued during the past week and 28 ships are still waiting for permission to enter. He highlighted efforts of the coalition forces in Yemen to restore security and stability in Yemeni governorates and military operations carried out by coalition forces against Houthi militias.

The spokesperson also presented the updated statistics, putting the number of ballistic missiles fired from within Yemeni territory towards Saudi Arabia at 87 ballistic missiles and 66,119 projectiles.



Trump, Netanyahu Meet Again as Gaps Said to Narrow in Gaza Ceasefire Talks

07 July 2025, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak privately in the Vermeil Room before a dinner at the White House. (Daniel Torok/White House/dpa)
07 July 2025, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak privately in the Vermeil Room before a dinner at the White House. (Daniel Torok/White House/dpa)
TT
20

Trump, Netanyahu Meet Again as Gaps Said to Narrow in Gaza Ceasefire Talks

07 July 2025, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak privately in the Vermeil Room before a dinner at the White House. (Daniel Torok/White House/dpa)
07 July 2025, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak privately in the Vermeil Room before a dinner at the White House. (Daniel Torok/White House/dpa)

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday met for a second time in two days with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss Gaza as Trump's Middle East envoy said Israel and Hamas were closing their differences on a ceasefire deal.

Netanyahu arrived at the White House shortly before 5 p.m. EDT for a meeting that was not expected to be open to the press. The two men met for several hours during a dinner at the White House on Monday during the Israeli leader's third US visit since the president began his second term on January 20.

Netanyahu met with Vice President JD Vance and then visited the US Capitol on Tuesday. He told reporters after a meeting with the Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson that while he did not think Israel's campaign in the Palestinian enclave was done, negotiators are "certainly working" on a ceasefire.

"We have still to finish the job in Gaza, release all our hostages, eliminate and destroy Hamas' military and government capabilities," Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu's return to the White House to see Trump on Tuesday pushed back his meeting with US Senate leaders to Wednesday.

Shortly after Netanyahu spoke, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said the issues keeping Israel and Hamas from agreeing had dropped to one from four and he hoped to reach a temporary ceasefire agreement this week.

"We are hopeful that by the end of this week, we'll have an agreement that will bring us into a 60-day ceasefire. Ten live hostages will be released. Nine deceased will be released," Witkoff told reporters at a meeting of Trump's Cabinet.

The Gaza war erupted when Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive.

Israel's retaliatory war in Gaza has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave's health ministry. Most of Gaza's population has been displaced by the war and nearly half a million people are facing famine within months, according to United Nations estimates.

Trump had strongly supported Netanyahu, even wading into domestic Israeli politics by criticizing prosecutors over a corruption trial against the Israeli leader on bribery, fraud and breach-of-trust charges that Netanyahu denies.

In his remarks to reporters at the US Congress, Netanyahu praised Trump, saying there has never been closer coordination between the US and Israel in his country's history.