Israeli navy attacks Yemen's Houthi-held port city of Hodeida

Euronews

18 hours ago

Israel's navy said on Tuesday that it attacked docks in Yemen's rebel-held port city of Hodeida, the first time that its naval forces have conducted strikes against the Iran-aligned Houthis.
The Houthis announced the attack via their al-Masirah news channel. They said the attack targeted docks in Hodeida, without elaborating. The facilities there are vital for aid shipments to the hungry, war-stricken nation.
Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis have repeatedly launched missiles and drones targeting Israel, as well as attacks against commercial ships in what the rebels have described as acts of solidarity with the Palestinians.
Late on Monday, Israel issued online warnings to Yemenis to evacuate from Ras Isa, Hodeida and al-Salif ports over the Houthis' alleged use of seaports for attacks.
"The port is used to transfer weapons and is a further example of the Houthi terrorist regime's cynical exploitation of civilian infrastructure in order to advance terrorist activities," the Israeli military said in a statement Tuesday.
Hodeida is also the main entry point for food and other humanitarian aid for millions of Yemenis since the war began when the Houthis seized Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in 2014.
Writing on X on Tuesday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened the Houthis with a naval and air blockade if attacks on Israel continue.
"We warned the Houthi terror organization that if they continue to fire at Israel they will face a powerful response and enter a naval and air blockade," he wrote.
The majority of the missiles and drones that the Houthis have fired towards Israel have either not hit their targets or been intercepted. Israeli forces have carried several airstrikes in retaliation, including attacks on Saana International Airport.
Between November 2023 and January 2025, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion (€876 billion) of goods move through it annually.
The Houthis paused attacks in a self-imposed ceasefire until the US launched a broad assault against the rebels in mid-March.
However, just before US President Donald Trump began his Middle East trip in mid-May, he paused the attacks, saying the rebels had "capitulated" to Washington's demands.
Earlier on Tuesday, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth wrote on X that US Navy ships used passed through the Red Sea and its Bab el-Mandeb Strait "multiple times in recent days" without facing Houthi attacks.
It's unclear how the Houthis will respond now that an attack from Israeli has come from the sea, rather than the air.
Meanwhile, the wider decade-long war in Yemen between the Houthis and the country's exiled government — backed by a Saudi-led coalition — remains in a stalemate.
Sixteen states have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration regarding its proposal to permit the sale of forced-reset triggers, which enable semiautomatic rifles to fire at an increased rate, and return devices already seized to their owners.
The lawsuit, which was announced on Monday, argues that the return of the triggers would violate federal laws, endangering both residents and law enforcement personnel, as well as potentially worsening gun violence. The suit was filed in a federal court in Maryland.
There had been several legal battles over the devices, which replace the typical trigger on an AR-15-style rifle. The Biden administration had previously argued the triggers qualify as machine guns under federal law because constant finger pressure on the triggers will keep a rifle firing, essentially creating an illegal machine gun.
Rare Breed Triggers – the manufacturer of the devices – says that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) misclassified them and disregarded requests to cease sales of the triggers prior to being sued by the Biden administration.
The Justice Department announced a deal last month with the company permitting the sale of forced-reset triggers. Previously, the company was represented by David Warrington, who currently serves as Trump's White House counsel.
As per the settlement, Rare Breed Triggers has agreed to refrain from manufacturing the devices for handguns, according to the Justice Department.
The settlement also requires the ATF to return triggers that were either confiscated or voluntarily surrendered by their owners to the government.
The lawsuit initiated by the states is being spearheaded by the attorneys general from Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey.
Other participating states include Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.
All attorneys general from these states are affiliated with the Democratic Party, although the office in Hawaii is officially nonpartisan.