AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s Houthi militia said on Saturday that the US and UK militaries carried out two airstrikes on the Red Sea Ras Isa port in Yemen’s western province of Hodeidah.
This comes as Trafigura, an international trading corporation, said that it had extinguished a fire on one of its ships in the Red Sea caused by a Houthi missile hit.
Houthi-run Al-Masira TV reported that the US and UK struck Ras Isa port on Saturday morning, which has an oil export facility and is close to the decaying floating oil ship Safer that has captured the world’s attention over the past several years.
Without naming the target site, the US Central Command said that its forces conducted an airstrike at about 3:45 a.m. (Sanaa time) on Saturday against an anti-ship missile that the Houthis were about to fire.
Yemen’s oil exports from the central province of Marib pass through Ras Isa in Hodeidah, while oil from the southern provinces of Hadramout and Shabwa pass through Arabian Sea oil terminals.
The 48-year-old FSO Safer tanker and its replacement are both berthed at the new Ras Isa oil facility.
The airstrikes in Hodeidah happened after the Houthis launched a ballistic missile at a Marshall Islands-flagged and UK-linked tanker controlled by Trafigura, causing a fire.
Trafigura stated on Saturday that the tanker’s crew was able to extinguish the fire and that all of the crew members were safe, and thanked the Indian, US and French navy warships for their support.
“We are pleased to confirm that all crew on board the Marlin Luanda are safe and the fire in the cargo tank has been fully extinguished. The vessel is now sailing toward a safe harbor,” the company said in a statement.
In a statement by their military spokesperson Yahya Sarea on Friday, the Houthis claimed responsibility for launching “a number of naval missiles” at the British oil ship, claiming that the action was both in support of the Palestinian people and in retribution for UK and US bombings on regions under their control in Yemen.
The Houthis also launched on Friday an anti-ship ballistic missile from regions under their control toward the Arleigh-Burke class destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) in the Gulf of Aden on Friday, but it was intercepted by the US Navy, according to US Central Command.
In Houthi-controlled Ibb, residents of the Al-Sabrah district reported that the Houthis fired a missile from the Al-Hamza military base in the district on Friday evening but the missile failed to reach its target and exploded shortly after in an area not far from the military base, the latest in a string of botched missile launches by the Houthis.
Experts believe that the Houthis will continue to attack US and UK ships, particularly oil tankers, to remain in the spotlight and build popular support, playing on public outrage over Israel’s war in Gaza, despite the danger of causing a catastrophic environmental disaster off Yemen’s coast.
“They don’t care about the implications for Yemen or the potential of an environmental disaster. The Houthis are trying to project themselves as a power that can defeat the US-led coalition. They are masters of war of attrition and propaganda,” Yemen conflict expert Nadwa Al-Dawsari told Arab News.
He added that the Houthis were infamous for concealing weaponry within civilian infrastructures such as ports to force their enemies to bomb them and then exploit the footage for propaganda.
“Houthis have a history of putting their missile launchers and weapons in civilian facilities. If they are bombed, that is good propaganda material showing that the US is targeting vital civilian infrastructure.”
Meanwhile, Yemen’s internationally recognized Presidential Leadership Council repeated demands on Saturday for foreign relief groups working in Yemen to transfer their headquarters from Houthi-controlled Sanaa to the southern city of Aden, Yemen’s temporary capital.
During a meeting with Sonali Korde, USAID assistant to the administrator for the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance in Riyadh, PLC chairman Rashad Al-Amili said that his government would facilitate international relief organizations that wish to operate in Aden, attacking the Houthis for forcing US and UK citizens working with UN agencies and other humanitarian organizations to leave Yemen within a month.
Houthis accuse US, UK of targeting Ras Isa oil terminal in Hodeidah
https://arab.news/4ap3n
Houthis accuse US, UK of targeting Ras Isa oil terminal in Hodeidah
- Houthi-run Al-Masira TV reported that the US and UK struck Ras Isa port on Saturday
- The Houthis claimed responsibility for launching “a number of naval missiles” at the British oil ship
Israeli army takes journalists into a tunnel in a Gaza city it seized and largely flattened
- Israel and Hamas are on the cusp of finishing the first phase of the truce, which mandated the return of all hostages, living and dead, in exchange for Palestinians held by Israel
- Hamas has said communication with its remaining units in Rafah has been cut off for months and that it was not responsible for any incidents occurring in those areas
RAFAH, Gaza Strip: One by one, the soldiers squeezed through a narrow entrance to a tunnel in southern Gaza. Inside a dark hallway, some bowed their heads to avoid hitting the low ceiling, while watching their step as they walked over or around jagged concrete, crushed plastic bottles and tattered mattresses.
On Monday, Israel’s military took journalists into Rafah — the city at Gaza’s southernmost point that troops seized last year and largely flattened — as the 2-month-old Israel-Hamas ceasefire reaches a critical point. Israel has banned international journalists from entering Gaza since the war began more than two years ago, except for rare, brief visits supervised by the military, such as this one.
Soldiers escorted journalists inside a tunnel, which they said was one of Hamas’ most significant and complex underground routes, connecting cities in the embattled territory and used by top Hamas commanders. Israel said Hamas had kept the body of a hostage in the underground passage: Hadar Goldin, a 23-year-old soldier who was killed in Gaza more than a decade ago and whose remains had been held there.
Hamas returned Goldin’s body last month as part of a US-brokered ceasefire in the war triggered by the militants’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and hundreds taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but says roughly half the dead have been women and children.
Israel and Hamas are on the cusp of finishing the first phase of the truce, which mandated the return of all hostages, living and dead, in exchange for Palestinians held by Israel. The body of just one more hostage remains to be returned.
Mediators warn the second phase will be far more challenging since it includes thornier issues, such as disarming Hamas and Israel’s withdrawal from the strip. Israel currently controls more than half of Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to travel to Washington this month to discuss those next steps with US President Donald Trump.
Piles of rubble line Rafah’s roads
Last year, Israel launched a major operation in Rafah, where many Palestinians had sought refuge from offensives elsewhere. Heavy fighting left much of the city in ruins and displaced nearly one million Palestinians. This year, when the military largely had control of the city, it systematically demolished most of the buildings that remained standing, according to satellite photos.
Troops also took control of and shut the vital Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only gateway to the outside world that was not controlled by Israel.
Israel said Rafah was Hamas’ last major stronghold and key to dismantling the group’s military capabilities, a major war aim.
On the drive around Rafah on Monday, towers of mangled concrete, wires and twisted metal lined the roads, with few buildings still standing and none unscathed. Remnants of people’s lives were scattered the ground: a foam mattress, towels and a book explaining the Qur’an.
Last week, Israel said it was ready to reopen the Rafah crossing but only for people to leave the strip. Egypt and many Palestinians fear that once people leave, they won’t be allowed to return. They say Israel is obligated to open the crossing in both directions.
Israel has said that entry into Gaza would not be permitted until Israel receives all hostages remaining in the strip.
Inside the tunnel
The tunnel that journalists were escorted through runs beneath what was once a densely populated residential neighborhood, under a United Nations compound and mosques. Today, Rafah is a ghost town. Underground, journalists picked their way around dangling cables and uneven concrete slabs covered in sand.
The army says the tunnel is more than 7 kilometers (4 miles) long and up to 25 meters (82 feet) deep and was used for storing weapons as well as long-term stays. It said top Hamas commanders were there during the war, including Mohammed Sinwar — who was believed to have run Hamas’ armed wing and was the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who helped mastermind the Oct. 7 attack. Israel has said it has killed both of them.
“What we see right here is a perfect example of what Hamas did with all the money and the equipment that was brought into Gaza throughout the years,” said Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani. “Hamas took it and built an incredible city underground for the purposes of terror and holding bodies of hostages.”
Israel has long accused Hamas of siphoning off money for military purposes. While Hamas says the Palestinians are an occupied people and have a right to resist, the group also has a civilian arm and ran a government that provided services such as health care, a police force and education.
The army hasn’t decided what to do with the tunnel. It could seal it with concrete, explode it or hold it for intelligence purposes among other options.
Since the ceasefire began, three soldiers have been killed in clashes with about 200 Hamas militants that Israeli and Egyptian officials say remain underground in Israeli-held territory.
Hamas has said communication with its remaining units in Rafah has been cut off for months and that it was not responsible for any incidents occurring in those areas.
Both Israel and Hamas have accused each other of repeated violations of the deal during the first phase. Israel has accused Hamas of dragging out the hostage returns, while Palestinian health officials say over 370 Palestinians have been killed in continued Israeli strikes since the ceasefire took effect.
