On 29 September 2024, Israel launched attacks in Yemen against the ports of

Al Hudaydah Hodeidah (), also transliterated as Hodeda, Hodeida, Hudaida or al-Hudaydah, is the fourth-largest city in Yemen and its Hudaydah Port, principal port on the Red Sea and it is the centre of Al Hudaydah Governorate. As of 2023, it had an estimate ...

and Ras Isa, both located in the

Houthi The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Zaydi Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaydi Shias, with their namesake leadership being drawn largely ...

-controlled part of the country, using F-15I, F-35I Adir, and

F-16I A large number of variants of the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon have been produced by General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, and various licensed manufacturers. The details of the F-16 variants, along with major modification programs and der ...

aircraft. Six people were killed and at least 57 were injured. Widespread power outages were caused in the city of Hodeida itself. The attacks caused significant damage to Yemeni port facilities and power generating stations. The Israeli attacks were in response to the fire of a

ballistic missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are powered only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) typic ...

by the Houthis directed at Israel's

Ben Gurion International Airport Ben Gurion International Airport , commonly known by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the main international airport of Israel. Situated on outskirts north of the city of Lod and directly south of the city of Or Yehuda, it is the busies ...

a day before, that was

intercepted In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team bu ...

by Israel. The Houthis said their missile attacks are part of a broader campaign to express solidarity with the people of Gaza and Lebanon. This was the second major Israeli retaliatory strike against the Houthis since Operation Outstretched Arm on 20 July 2024, which saw Israeli aircraft attacking the Al Hudaydah port.

Background

War in Yemen

The

Houthi movement The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Zaydism, Zaydi Shia Islamism, Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaydi Shias, with their namesake leadersh ...

, officially "Ansar Allah", is an Islamist group in Yemen that follows the Shiite Zaydi faith. The movement has been fueled by decades of discrimination against the Shi'ites in Yemen and took power in 2014. In 2015, Saudi Arabia and its allies, with American support, launched a war against the Houthis, and imposed a naval and air blockade. The resulting

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenom ...

has claimed the lives of an estimated 150,000 people. They were designated a

terrorist organization Several national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and former ...

by the United States, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, and Australia. The group has called for the destruction of Israel. The movement, whose militants oppose Yemen's internationally recognized government, has controlled a considerable swath of the country's territory along the Red Sea since 2014.

Spillover of the Israel–Hamas war

After the

2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel On October 7, 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinians, Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 ...

and subsequent Israeli

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...

and

bombardment A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire or by dropping bombs from aircraft on fortifications, combatants, or cities and buildings. Prior to World War I, the term was only applied to the bombardment of defenseless or undefended obje ...

of the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

, the Houthis launched retaliatory attacks on Israel, promising to continue them until "Israeli aggression stops." Houthi attacks on international shipping vessels in the Red Sea were deemed by some as international piracy, drawing a military response from a number of countries. In January 2024, the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

adopted Resolution 2722, condemning the Houthi attacks and affirming

freedom of navigation Freedom of navigation (FON) is a principle of law of the sea that ships flying the flag of any sovereign state shall not suffer interference from other states when in international waters, apart from the exceptions provided for in international ...

. The United States-led

Operation Prosperity Guardian Operation Prosperity Guardian is a United States-led military operation by a multinational Military coalition, coalition formed in December 2023 to respond to Red Sea crisis#Houthi attacks on commercial vessels, Houthi-led attacks on shipp ...

was launched to protect Red Sea shipping. Since 12 January, the US and UK have led coalition air and missile strikes against the Houthis, while other countries are independently patrolling the waters near Yemen. On 19 July a drone launched by Houthi militants from Yemen hit

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, killing one person and injuring 10 others. The next day, Israel attacked the Hodeidah port in Yemen, killing 14 people and injuring 90. Houthi officials condemned the Israeli attacks, and said they will not stop until what they called "the genocide in Gaza" is stopped. Among those killed in the Israeli attacks were 12 employees of the Yemen Petroleum Corporation. The attacks reportedly targeted a power station, and caused power outages for the local population. On September 28 2024, the

Houthis The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Zaydism, Zaydi Shia Islamism, Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaydi Shias, with their namesake leadersh ...

launched a

from

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

towards

Ben Gurion Airport Ben Gurion International Airport , commonly known by the Hebrew language, Hebrew-language acronym (), is the main international airport of Israel. Situated on outskirts north of the city of Lod and directly south of the city of Or Yehuda, i ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, prompting air raid sirens in

and most of Central Israel.

Attacks

The Israeli military said it used dozens of aircraft, including fighter jets, refuelers and spy planes, to make the attacks some 1,800 km from Israel.

Targets

According to early reports the targets were fuel facilities,

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

s and docks at the Ras Issa and

Hodeidah Hodeidah (), also transliterated as Hodeda, Hodeida, Hudaida or al-Hudaydah, is the fourth-largest city in Yemen and its principal port on the Red Sea and it is the centre of Al Hudaydah Governorate. As of 2023, it had an estimated population o ...

ports. The attacks killed one port worker and three electrical engineers. Residents said the attacks power outages in most of Hodeidah. Israel acknowledged that the ports are used to import oil, but said they are also used to import weapons and the oil can be used for military purposes.

Reactions

Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned the airstrikes, labeling them "inhumane" and accusing the United States of backing Israeli attacks against civilian facilities. Israeli defence minister tweeted “Our message is clear, for us, no place is too far” in reference to the long distance traversed to conduct the attacks.

References

{{Iran–Israel proxy conflict 2024 airstrikes 2024 building bombings 2024 in international relations

Israeli attacks Airstrikes during the Yemeni civil war (2014–present) Aerial operations and battles involving Israel Attacks on ports and harbours Attacks on energy sector Building bombings in Yemen

September September is the ninth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 30 days. September in the Northern Hemisphere and March in the Southern Hemisphere are seasonally equivalent. In the Northern hemisphere, the b ...

Red Sea crisis Middle Eastern crisis (2023–present) Al Hudaydah Governorate in the Yemeni civil war (2014–present) Sanaa in the Yemeni civil war (2014–present) Military history of Sanaa History of the Houthis