Israel’s retaliatory strike on Yemen’s Hodeidah port aimed to prevent Iran’s weapon transfer

IDF jets struck Houthi terror infrastructure in the port of Hodeidah and the “Bajil” concrete plant in Yemen, 2,000 km from Israel.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Israel’s strike on Monday on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah was carried out in retaliation for the Houthis’ attack on Saturday on Ben Gurion Airport, in which a ballistic missile from Yemen lightly to moderately wounded six people nearby and caused significant disruptions to takeoffs and arrivals.

The IDF reported that its  jets struck Houthi terror infrastructure in the port of Hodeidah and the “Bajil” concrete plant in Yemen, 2,000 km from Israel.

The strike was intended as retaliation for the Houthi aggression as well as to prevent “the transfer of Iranian weapons, equipment for military needs, and other terrorist purposes,” the military said.

The IDF targeted the Bajil concrete factory, which is a “crucial economic resource for the Houthi terror group and is instrumental for the construction of tunnels and military infrastructure,” the IDF said.

The strikes “constitute a blow to the regime’s economy and its military buildup,” the IDF stated.

Monday’s operation marks the sixth time that Israel has struck the Houthis since the beginning of the war and the first time since January.

Senior Houthi Nasr al-Din Amer said, “The Zionist-American attacks on civilian facilities will not affect our military operations against the Zionist entity. This Yemeni position will continue and escalate, and the naval and air blockade on the entity will not be lifted until the aggression stops and the blockade on Gaza ends.”

Following the attack on Ben Gurion Airport, Houthi terrorists threatened on Sunday to impose a “comprehensive aerial blockade” on Israel by stepping up attacks on Israel’s international airports, according to Arabic media reports.

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree, in a statement, called on all airlines to “take into consideration the contents of this statement from the moment of its announcement and publication and to cancel all scheduled flights” to the Jewish state, the reports said.

Saree’s remarks came hours after a ballistic missile from Yemen lightly to moderately wounded six people and caused significant disruptions to takeoffs and arrivals at Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv.