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The Houthis (Ansar Allah) in Yemen will continue to attack Israel and will not abide by any rules of engagement, the group’s spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam told Qatar’s Al Jazeera TV on July 21, a day after Israel attacked the Houthi-held al-Hodeida port in western Yemen.
Abdulsalam said there will be “no red lines” in the Houthis’ upcoming response to Israel. “All sensitive institutions with all its levels will be a target for us,” he says.
The Israeli attack on al-Hodeida port was carried out in response to the July 20 Tel Aviv drone strike, which was claimed by the Houthis. The strike killed a man and wounded at least eight others.
The attack targeted fuel depots, energy facilities and other infrastructure at the port. The IDF released new footage from the attack on July 21. Medical sources in Yemen told Reuters one the same day that the attack killed six people and left at least 80 others wounded.
In an initial response to the Israeli strikes, the Houthis announced on July 21 that they had fired multiple ballistic missiles at Eilat and struck the American-owned merchant vessel Pumba in the Red Sea. The group however warned that its main response is yet to come.
The IDF said that its Arrow 3 long-range air defense system intercepted a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis outside of Israeli airspace. Sirens were sounded in the southernmost Israeli city of Eilat.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has threatened more operations against the Houthis “if they dare to attack” Israel from Yemen.
According to the IDF, the Houthis over the last nine months have fired from Yemen more than 220 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and suicide drones at Israel, mostly toward Eilat, in response to the Israeli war on the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip.
In addition, the Houthis targeted during the same period dozens of vessels affiliated with Israel or owned by the United States and the United Kingdom in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
The response to the Israeli attack on al-Hodeida will likely be on a scale not seen before from the Houthis during the ongoing confrontation. Any further escalation by Israel could further destabilize the entire Middle East.
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