عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Analysts Predict Hodeidah Port to Lose Immunity Like Sanaa Airport

A boat carrying smuggled weapons to Houthis was stopped by the US Navy a few days ago in the northern Arabian Sea (AP)
A boat carrying smuggled weapons to Houthis was stopped by the US Navy a few days ago in the northern Arabian Sea (AP)
TT
TT

Analysts Predict Hodeidah Port to Lose Immunity Like Sanaa Airport

A boat carrying smuggled weapons to Houthis was stopped by the US Navy a few days ago in the northern Arabian Sea (AP)
A boat carrying smuggled weapons to Houthis was stopped by the US Navy a few days ago in the northern Arabian Sea (AP)

Military analysts believe that the evidence presented by the Saudi-led Arab Coalition on the use of the Red Sea port of Hodeidah in Yemen for the smuggling of weapons has left the seaport at risk of losing its civilian immunity the way the Sanaa airport did.

The immunity of Hodeidah port will be lifted after the Arab Coalition clearly demonstrated its use in arms smuggling and the transfer of military experts of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Lebanon’s terrorist Hezbollah group, revealed Brigadier General Fawaz Kasseb.

On Sunday, the Arab Coalition released video footage of a Hezbollah member confirming that the sea was the only gateway for support to the Houthis

“If we lose the sea, neither support nor fighters will reach Yemen,” said the Hezbollah member in the video.

“The immunity of Sanaa airport, which was used militarily, was lifted, and this may be repeated with the port of Hodeidah, which is one of the areas through which Houthi receives weapons and Iranian and Hezbollah terrorist elements,” Brig.Gen. Kasseb told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“The port of Hodeidah will lose its immunity after displaying all intelligence information and making the United Nations face the present fait accompli,” he added, noting that the international body was unfortunately was carrying out a policy of long-term containment of the Houthis, a matter that led to humanitarian disasters,” he added.

Kasseb predicted that the coming period would witness joint naval operations between the Yemeni National Army, with the support of the Arab Coalition, to liberate the port of Hodeidah. This would completely cut off any smuggling through the port.

“Hodeidah is the anchor to the smuggling of Iranian missiles and drones,” confirmed Brig. Gen. Yahya Abu Hatem.

“It is a site for reassembling smuggled weapons, and the launching of missiles and drones towards civilian targets in Yemen and Saudi lands,” he added in a tweet.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Israeli Airstrikes Hit Yemen's Capital and Port City after Houthi Attack Targets Israel

A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, 13 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, 13 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
TT
TT

Israeli Airstrikes Hit Yemen's Capital and Port City after Houthi Attack Targets Israel

A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, 13 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, 13 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB

A series of intense Israeli airstrikes shook Yemen's Houthi-held capital and a port city early Thursday and killed at least nine people, officials said, shortly after a Houthi missile targeted central Israel.
Thursday’s strikes risk further escalating conflict with the Iranian-backed Houthis, whose attacks on the Red Sea corridor have drastically impacted global shipping. The militants have so far avoided the same level of intense military strikes that have targeted the Palestinian Hamas militant group and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, fellow members of Tehran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance.”
The Houthi-controlled satellite channel al-Masirah said that some of the strikes targeted power stations in the capital, as well as the Ras Isa oil terminal on the Red Sea. The channel, citing its correspondent in the port city of Hodeidah, said at least seven people had been killed at the nearby port of Salif, while another two had been killed at the Ras Isa oil terminal.
Others suffered wounds at the Hodeidah port as well, it said.
An Israeli military statement offered no specifics on the targets hit, nor any damage assessment.
“The targets struck by the (Israeli military) were used by the Houthi forces for military purposes,” the statement said. “The strikes degrade the Houthi terrorist regime, preventing it from exploiting the targets for military and terrorist purposes, including the smuggling of Iranian weapons to the region.”
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, said the strikes hit energy and port infrastructure, which he alleged the militants “have been using in ways that effectively contributed to their military action.”
“Israel will not hesitate to act in order to defend itself and its citizens from the Houthi attacks,” Hagari said.
Houthi-held Hodeidah, some 145 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of Sanaa, has been key for food shipments into Yemen as its decades long war has gone on. There's also longstanding suspicion that weapons from Iran have been transferred through the port.
The strikes happened just after the Israeli military said its air force intercepted a missile launched from Yemen before it entered the country’s territory.
“Rocket and missile sirens were sounded following the possibility of falling debris from the interception,” the Israeli military said. Sirens sounded near Tel Aviv and the surrounding areas, and a large explosion was heard overhead at the time. The Houthis did not immediately claim the missile attack, but said an important military statement would be issued in the coming hours, following a pattern of how they claim their assaults.
Israel previously struck Hodeidah and its oil infrastructure in July after a Houthi drone attack killed one person and wounded 10 in Tel Aviv. In September, Israel struck Hodeidah again, killing at least four people after a militant missile targeted Israel’s Ben Gurion airport as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was arriving back to the country.
American forces have also launched a series of strikes on the Houthis over nearly a year due to Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea corridor. On Monday, the US military's Central Command said it hit “a key command-and-control facility" operated by the Houthis in Sanaa, later identified as the al-Ardi complex once home to the government's Defense Ministry.
But Israel appears to have carried out Thursday's strikes alone. A US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the attacks, said America had no part in them.
The Houthis have targeted some 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023 after Hamas' surprise attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage. Israel's grinding offensive in Gaza has killed over 45,000 Palestinians, local health officials say.
The Houthis have seized one vessel and sunk two in a campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by separate US- and European-led coalitions in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have also included Western military vessels.
The Houthis maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.