The Israeli army said Sunday it had intercepted a missile coming from Yemen and “which was approaching Israel”, a day after an Israeli raid on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah that left six dead and more than 80 wounded. The Houthis had announced that they had targeted the Israeli seaside city of Eilat with several ballistic missiles. They reiterated their threats Sunday, promising Israel a “huge response” to its deadly strikes on Hodeidah.
Published on: 07/21/2024 – 07:54Modified on: 07/21/2024 – 14:46
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The missile “did not enter Israeli territory. The sirens (…) were triggered due to the possibility of falling shrapnel. The incident is over,” the Israeli army said on Sunday, July 21, in a statement announcing the interception of a missile coming from Yemen, heading for the seaside resort of Eilat, in southern Israel.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree confirmed missile strikes on Eilat.
The new threat from Yemeni rebels comes a day after an Israeli air force attack in Yemen. The Jewish state bombed the strategic rebel-held port of Hodeidah in war-torn western Yemen on Saturday, killing six people and injuring dozens, according to the rebels.
Escalation of threats
As firefighters work to extinguish the massive blaze at the Hodeidah port, a key entry point for fuel and humanitarian aid to Yemen, the Houthis have reiterated their threats against Israel. “The response to the Israeli aggression against our country is inevitable and will be enormous,” Yahya Saree warned.
Further operations against the Houthis will follow “if they dare to attack us,” added Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The military said the port area targeted Saturday in Yemen served as a “main supply route for the movement of Iranian weapons from Iran to Yemen,” including “the drone used” against Tel Aviv.
In this explosive context, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet US President Joe Biden in Washington on Tuesday, before a speech the following day to Congress, to try to strengthen ties with the United States, which have been undermined by the conflict in Gaza, triggered on 7 October by an attack by Palestinian Hamas in Israel.
Yemeni government condemns
Allies of Iran, Israel’s sworn enemy, the Yemeni Houthi rebels and the Lebanese Hezbollah have opened fronts with Israel, in “support” of the Palestinians in Gaza, besieged and relentlessly pounded by the Israeli army since October 7.
At war since 2014 against the Houthis who control large swathes of Yemen, the Yemeni government, recognized by the international community and supported by Saudi Arabia, has condemned the Israeli raids.
But he also warned the rebels against dragging Yemen into “senseless battles that serve the interests of the Iranian regime and its expansionist project.”
In Tehran, the Foreign Ministry condemned “the attacks of the Zionist regime” in Yemen and said it held Israel and its allies, including the United States, “responsible for the dangerous consequences of the continuation of crimes in Gaza and attacks against Yemen.”
Risk of worsening shortages in Yemen
Meanwhile in Hodeidah, fuel tanks and a power plant are still on fire, according to a port employee. Thick plumes of black smoke cover the port area, an AFP correspondent observed.
“There are fears that poorly equipped firefighters will not be able to contain the spread of the fire” for several days, said Mohammed Albasha, a Middle East analyst for the American group Navanti, warning that food storage facilities could be affected.
This raises fears of worsening shortages in this poor country on the Arabian Peninsula, where the war has caused a major humanitarian crisis.
Fronts in Gaza and Lebanon
Much closer than Yemen, located around 1,800 km from Israel, the front with Hezbollah in Lebanon is marked by almost daily hostilities on the common border.
On Sunday, the Israeli army bombed two “Hezbollah weapons storage” depots in southern Lebanon. It then reported that rockets fired from Lebanon had fallen in northern Israel.
Despite international fears of a regional conflagration, the war in Gaza is showing no respite as Israel’s devastating offensive continues.
On Sunday, Israeli soldiers carried out a large-scale operation in Rafah (south) with intense bombardments and fighting with Hamas.
With AFP
