Israeli warplanes target power stations, Yemen’s Houthi-held Hodeidah

An image grab taken from a UGC video posted on social media on September 29, 2024, shows smoke billowing above Hodeida port city following Israeli strikes. (AFP)
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Updated 29 September 2024
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Israeli warplanes target power stations, Yemen’s Houthi-held Hodeidah

  • The airstrikes had “completely” destroyed the Al-Hali power plant, Hodeidah’s main power station, rendering it inoperable and burying workers
  • Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported three workers were found under debris at the plant while rescuers were attempting to find more trapped people

AL MUKALLA: Israeli warplanes on Sunday bombed two ports and two power plants in Hodeidah, the Houthi-held western city in Yemen, a day after the Iran-backed Houthis claimed to have fired a ballistic missile and drone at Israel.

Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported that Israeli warplanes launched a number of airstrikes on Hodeidah city port and Ras Issa port, including a major oil export terminal and Al-Hali and Al-Katheeb power plants. 

The airstrikes had “completely” destroyed the Al-Hali power plant, Hodeidah’s main power station, rendering it inoperable and burying workers.

Al-Masirah said three workers were found under debris at the plant while rescuers were attempting to find more trapped people.

Images and videos shared on social media showed large balls of fire and smoke at the targeted oil storage facilities at Hodeidah Port and other locations.

The Israeli military said in a statement that its warplanes had attacked Houthi targets in Hodeidah and the Ras Issa regions.

Fearing that the airstrikes on facilities in Hodeidah would cause an oil-buying panic, the Houthi-run oil company issued a statement immediately following the strikes, assuring people in areas under its control that there were sufficient oil supplies and telling fuel station owners not to close stations or raise prices.

“The Yemeni Oil Company confirms that it has already taken the necessary precautions for any emergency and that the supply situation in the free zones is completely stable,” it said.

The airstrikes came a day after the Houthis claimed to have launched a ballistic missile at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport, and vowed to carry out similar drone and missile strikes on Israel in the future in support of Palestine to put pressure on Israel to end its war in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli warplanes first launched airstrikes on Houthi targets in Hodeidah on July 20, killing and wounding 90 people a day after the Houthis fired a drone at Tel Aviv, killing one person and injuring several others.

Since November the Houthis have fired hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones at international commercial and naval ships in the Red Sea and other seas off Yemen, as well as at Israel, in what the Yemeni militia claims is an effort to support the Palestinian people.


Gazans struggle to retrieve bodies as storms lash war-damaged buildings

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Gazans struggle to retrieve bodies as storms lash war-damaged buildings

  • Gaza Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal called on the international community to provide mobile homes and caravans for displaced Palestinians rather than tents
  • UN and Palestinian officials said at least 300,000 new tents are urgently needed for the roughly 1.5 million people still displaced. Most existing shelters are worn out or made of thin plastic and cloth sheeting

GAZA: Authorities in Gaza warned on Monday that more war-damaged buildings may collapse because of heavy rain in the devastated Palestinian enclave. 

They said the weather was making it hard to recover bodies still under the rubble.
Two buildings collapsed in Gaza on Friday, killing at least 12 people according to local health authorities, amid a storm that has also washed away and flooded tents, and led to deaths from exposure.
Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in October after two years of intense bombardment and military operations. 
However, humanitarian agencies say there is still very little aid getting into Gaza, where nearly the entire population is homeless.
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal called on the international community to provide mobile homes and caravans for displaced Palestinians rather than tents.
“If people are not protected today, we will witness more victims, more killing of people, children, women, entire families inside these buildings,” he said.
Mohammed Nassar and his family were living in a six-story building that was severely damaged by Israeli strikes earlier in the war, and then collapsed on Friday.
His family had struggled to find alternative accommodation and had been flooded out while living in a tent during a previous severe weather event. Nassar went out to buy some necessities on Friday and returned to a scene of carnage with rescue workers struggling to pull bodies from the rubble.
“I saw my son’s hand sticking out from under the ground. The scene affected me the most. My son is under the ground, and we are unable to get him out,” Nassar said. His son, 15, died, as did a daughter, aged 18.
Later on Monday, the head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency said more aid must be allowed into Gaza without delays to prevent putting more displaced families at serious risk.
“With heavy rain and cold brought in by Storm Byron, people in the Gaza Strip are freezing to death,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini posted on X.
“The waterlogged ruins where they are sheltering are collapsing, causing even more exposure to cold,” he added.
Lazzarini said they have supplies that have been waiting for months to enter Gaza and would cover the needs of hundreds of thousands of the population of over 2 million.
UN and Palestinian officials said at least 300,000 new tents are urgently needed for the roughly 1.5 million people still displaced. Most existing shelters are worn out or made of thin plastic and cloth sheeting.
Gaza authorities are meanwhile still digging to recover around 9,000 bodies they estimate remain buried in rubble from Israeli bombing during the war, but they lack the machinery needed to expedite the work, spokesman Ismail 
Al-Thawabta said.
On Monday, rescue workers retrieved the remains of around 20 people from a multi-story building bombed in December 2023, where around 60 people, including 30 children, were believed to be sheltering.
Gaza authorities say Israel is not allowing in as much aid as promised under the truce. 
Aid agencies say Israel is blocking essential items. 
Israel says it is meeting its obligations and accuses agencies of inefficiency and failing to prevent theft by Hamas, which the group denies.