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<div class="gmail-inner-article-top"><h1 class="gmail-">Israeli jets bomb Yemen's Hodeidah in response to Tel Aviv drone strike</h1><p class="gmail-">Sanaa
has pledged an 'inevitable' response to the Israeli escalation and
confirmed the Yemeni people's 'steadfastness' in supporting Gaza</p><div class="gmail-another-name"><p><a href="https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9" style="color:rgb(164,4,4)">News Desk</a></p></div><div class="gmail-another-name" style="margin-top:16px"><p><span>JUL 20, 2024 -<font size="1"> </font></span><font size="1"><a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/israeli-jets-bomb-yemens-hodeidah-in-response-to-tel-aviv-drone-strike">https://thecradle.co/articles/israeli-jets-bomb-yemens-hodeidah-in-response-to-tel-aviv-drone-strike</a></font></p></div></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-img"><img src="http://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles/eab23db6-46b4-11ef-a1c8-00163e02c055.webp" alt="" width="490" height="276" style="margin-right: 0px;"><span>(Photo Credit: X)</span></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-content"><div class="gmail-row"><div class="gmail-col-md-8 gmail-col-sm-7"><div class="gmail-article-content"><span><p>Israeli
warplanes launched heavy raids on Yemen's western port city of Hodeidah
on 20 July, targeting fuel depots and oil refineries as well as the
province's power station, according to reports in <a href="https://aawsat.com/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A/5042049-%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%BA%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%AA%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%AF%D9%81-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%AB%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86-%D9%8A%D8%AA%D9%87%D9%85%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A5%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%D9%84">Saudi media</a> and Yemen's Al-Masirah TV.</p><p>Local
reports say the air raids left several dead and wounded. Videos shared
on social media show massive fires blazing at the Port of Hodeidah.</p><div class="gmail-twitter-tweet gmail-twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"></div> <p>Saudi Arabia's <i>Al Arabiya</i>
news outlet claims 12 Israeli warplanes, including F-35 fighter jets,
took part in the attack. Although earlier reports said the US and UK
took part in Saturday's raids, a senior Israeli official told Hebrew
daily <i>Walla</i> that "Israeli fighter jets alone conducted strikes on the Houthi-controlled port city.</p><p>Nasr
El-Din Amer, Vice President of the Ansarallah Media Authority, stressed
on Saturday evening that the Israeli raids “will not change” Yemen's
steadfast support for the Palestinian resistance in Gaza.</p><p>“The
response to this aggression is inevitable, and the Yemeni people are
stronger than all forces of evil. We are a people who prefer martyrdom
and sacrifice over witnessing Gaza being slaughtered without taking
action,” the Yemeni official added.</p><p>“We are also a people who,
when targeted, do not retreat but instead increase in determination and
conviction in the necessity of confrontation and response. We are Yemen,
the land of faith, wisdom, jihad, and steadfastness.”</p><p>Ansarallah
spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam issued a similar statement, saying that
by targeting civilian facilities, Israel “aims to double the suffering
of the people and pressure Yemen to stop supporting Gaza. This is a
dream that, Allah willing, will never come true.”</p><p>Israel's first-ever direct attack on Yemen comes one day after Sanaa launched an <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/deterrence-has-collapsed-israeli-media-laments-mega-failure-after-yemeni-strike">unprecedented</a> drone strike on the city of Tel Aviv, bypassing all air defense systems before hitting a building near the US consulate.</p><p>A preliminary <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-said-to-have-tracked-drone-that-hit-tel-aviv-for-6-minutes-but-thought-it-harmless/">investigation</a>
by the Israeli air force determined that the drone was tracked for at
least six minutes before it reached its target, claiming that a “human
error” led to it not being engaged by air defenses.</p><p>The report
also says the drone, codenamed “Yafa,” had flown for more than 10 hours,
traversing Egypt before coming into Tel Aviv from the direction of the
Mediterranean Sea at a low altitude, making a trip of over 2,000
kilometers.</p><p>Earlier this week, the commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), General Michael Erik Kurilla, <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/centcom-chief-urges-broad-expansion-of-illegal-war-against-yemen-report">urged</a> authorities in Washington to take a more <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/u-s-launches-effort-to-stop-russia-from-arming-houthis-with-antiship-missiles-98131a8a">forceful approach</a> against Yemen, saying current efforts to deter the nation’s pro-Palestine operations are “<a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/yemen-declares-tel-aviv-unsafe-zone-after-successful-drone-attack">failing</a>.”</p><p>Since January, Washington and London have been leading an <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/white-house-scrambles-for-legal-loopholes-in-yemen-war">illegal war</a> against Yemen in a failed attempt to stop the operations in support of Gaza. Despite <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/dozens-of-casualties-in-yemen-following-intense-us-uk-air-raids">heavily bombing</a> the country dozens of times, Sanaa has continued to launch attacks on Israeli-linked ships and ports.</p></span></div></div></div></div>
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