The latest round of United States airstrikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen have killed dozens of people in bombardments targeting a port in the country’s northwest, according to the Iran-backed militia.
The strikes late on Thursday were part of an escalating campaign by the Trump administration against the Yemeni militia. The Houthis have been attacking ships in the nearby Red Sea and firing rockets and drones at Israel in a campaign that it says is in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
The American bombardment targeted the port of Ras Isa, a major fuel depot in the Houthi-controlled province of Hudaydah. At least 38 people were killed and more than 100 injured, said Anees al-Asbahi, the spokesman for the Houthi-run health ministry. The toll could not be independently verified.
President Trump has expanded efforts by the Biden administration to degrade the Houthis, vowing that they will be “completely annihilated.”
But the increasingly forceful U.S. strikes on the Houthis have yet to deter them from carrying out further attacks. Instead, the Houthis have said that they would welcome a war with the U.S., their declared enemy.
Experts have also warned that attacking ports like Ras Isa could worsen the already dire conditions in Yemen. The United Nations has described the humanitarian crisis in the country as the world’s largest, with about 80 percent of the population in need of essential aid.
The Houthis began their attacks on Israel and on ships in the Red Sea after the war in Gaza began in October 2023, ignited by the Hamas-led attack on Israel.
The Houthis briefly stopped firing rockets at Israel during a two-month cease-fire between Israel and Hamas earlier this year.
But after Israel ended the truce in mid-March with a renewed offensive in Gaza, the Houthis resumed firing ballistic missiles at Israeli territory.
The vast majority of the missiles have been intercepted by Israeli air defenses, although a Houthi drone attack in July killed a man in Tel Aviv.
Just a few hours after the American strikes, Houthi militants fired another ballistic missile at Israeli territory. Air-raid sirens blared across the country’s heartland, instructing hundreds of thousands of Israelis to head into bomb shelters. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The U.S. military said it had targeted Ras Isa because shipments of fuel were still flowing into the port in defiance of American sanctions on the Houthis, allowing funds to flow into the militia’s coffers.
“U.S. forces took action to eliminate this source of fuel for the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists and deprive them of illegal revenue,” said the American military’s Central Command. “This strike was not intended to harm the people of Yemen, who rightly want to throw off the yoke of Houthi subjugation and live peacefully.”
Hudaydah’s ports are also the main conduit by which fuel, food imports and aid enter impoverished northern Yemen, where more than 20 million people live.
In the past, the United Nations and humanitarian groups have condemned the targeting of the port as damaging vital civilian infrastructure.
Saudi Arabia and its allies similarly cited the need to degrade the Houthis when the militia tried to take over Hudaydah during their nearly decade-long war against the group.
Back then, the United States and other countries pressed the Saudis to stop, fearing a humanitarian disaster. A United Nations-mediated agreement halted the fighting around the city in 2018.
Israeli fighter jets have also bombed Yemen multiple times since the Houthis began attacking Israel in late 2023, at times flying over 1,000 miles to strike ports and power stations in Houthi-controlled territory.
The Houthis have vowed to continue attacking until Israel ends its military offensive in Gaza.
Saeed Al-Batati contributed reporting from Al Mukalla, Yemen.
Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem.
Vivian Nereim is the lead reporter for The Times covering the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. She is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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