Sana’a, July 21 (EFE).- At least five people were killed and nearly 90 severely injured in an Israeli strike on the Houthi-controlled Yemeni port city of al-Hodeidah, officials said on Sunday.
According to Houthi authorities, the attack occurred on Saturday and was the first by Israel on Yemen. It targeted «oil storage facilities and the power plant» in al-Hodeidah, a city from which Yemeni insurgents launch several of their attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea and occasionally against Israeli territory.
Port sources told EFE that the Israeli strikes hit the oil and gas unloading dock, the fuel storage tanks, and the only two operational container cranes.
The bombing caused a large fire in the port city, with images of gigantic columns of smoke rising over the facility and large flames spreading across the surrounding area circulating on social media on Saturday night.
The Israeli strike came a day after a drone attack by the Houthis that left one dead in Tel Aviv, the first deadly attack by the Iranian-backed rebels on Israeli territory.
On Sunday, the Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for firing «a number of ballistic missiles» at Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a statement that the militant group launched the missiles against «important targets» in Eilat and added that the operation was carried out «successfully.»
Earlier in the day, the Israeli military said it intercepted a surface-to-surface missile over the Red Sea fired from Yemen.
It added that although the missile did not enter Israeli territory, sirens were sounded in Eilat due to the possibility of falling shrapnel.
Saree also said the «naval, UAV, and missile forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a joint military operation targeting the American ship ‘Pumba’ in the Red Sea with a number of ballistic missiles and drones.»
Pumba is a 294.1-meter-long container ship sailing under the flag of Liberia in the direction of Malaysia.
Saree said they had «full right to defend beloved Yemen against American-British aggression, as well as against the Israeli aggression.»
He was referring to Saturday’s attack and the airstrikes that Washington and London have been carrying out since mid-January against Houthi targets. EFE
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