RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Sunday said it had nothing to do with the Israeli air strikes on Yemen’s city of Hodeidah and that it will not allow anyone to use the Kingdom’s airspace for offensive purposes.
“The Kingdom has no relation or involvement in the targeting of Hodeidah, and the Kingdom will not allow any entity to violate its airspace,” Brigadier General Turki Al-Malki, spokesman for the Saudi Ministry of Defense, said in a statement on the X social media app.
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed on Sunday its deep concern over the escalating military situation in Yemen.
In a statement released by the Saudi Press Agency, the ministry commented on the recent Israeli attack, stating that it “exacerbates the current tension in the region and undermines ongoing efforts to end the war in Gaza.”
#بيان | تتابع وزارة الخارجية بقلق بالغ تطورات التصعيد العسكري في اليمن بعد الهجمات الإسرائيلية التي شهدتها محافظة الحديدة يوم السبت ٢٠ يوليو ٢٠٢٤ والتي تضاعف من حدة التوتر الحالي في المنطقة، وتضر بالجهود المستمرة لإنهاء الحرب على غزة. pic.twitter.com/I7SgULurFl
— وزارة الخارجية (@KSAMOFA) July 21, 2024
The ministry urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint and to keep the region and its peoples safe from the dangers of war. It called upon the international community and influential parties to fulfill their roles and responsibilities in ending conflicts in the region.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed Saudi Arabia's commitment to ending the war in Gaza and its ongoing support for peace efforts in Yemen, aiming to alleviate the suffering of its people and achieve security and peace in the region.
Israeli warplanes struck the Houthi-held western Yemeni city on Saturday in an apparent reprisal for the Houthi drone strike on a Tel Aviv apartment building before dawn Friday, killing one civilian.
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the airstrike was meant to send a message to the Houthis that their attacks would not be left unanswered.
The Iran-backed Houthi militia, which controls a large part of Yemen, had been attacking commercial vessels passing through the Red Sea and the Bab-Al-Mandab straight in a sympathy action for the Palestinians in Gaza amid Israeli attacks.
The Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported that the Israeli strikes hit a power plant and a gasoline storage facility, killing three and wounding 87 people.
Unfazed by the swift Israeli response, Houthi officials threatened to continue attacking ships doing commerce with Israel and on Israel itself.
“We emphasize that this brutal aggression will only strengthen the determination and steadfastness of the Yemeni people and their valiant armed forces in their support for Gaza,” Mohammed Abdul Sallam, the Houthi chief negotiator based in Muscat, posted on X.
Houthi Shura Council member Abdul Sallam Jahaf said: “We will respond more violently and harshly to this Zionist-American orgy.”
