At least 80 dead and 150 wounded in a US bombing of a port in Yemen

BarcelonaA wave of US bombings has left at least 80 dead and 150 injured in the port of Ras Isa in Yemen, according to local media affiliated with the Houthi movement, which is threatening boat traffic through the Red Sea in solidarity with the people of Gaza. Among the victims are paramedics and rescue team members. The Israeli military command justified the attack by saying the port was a fuel and financial base for the Houthi movement, which is affiliated with Iran.

Mohammed el Attab, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Sana'a, explains that the bombings took port workers by surprise and have sparked outrage in the country due to the number of civilian casualties and the strategic importance of the port. Seventy percent of Yemen's imports and 80% of the humanitarian aid the country receives, immersed in a hunger and cholera epidemic after 14 years of war, pass through the ports of Rais Isa, Hodeida, and As Salif.

The Houthis have responded by announcing missile attacks on Israeli territory and against two US aircraft carriers deployed to the Red Sea to guarantee ship traffic to Israel. Their spokesman, Mohamed Nasser el Atifi, has said that the "war crimes" committed by the United States "will not prevent the people of Yemen from continuing to support Gaza, but will rather strengthen their determination and resilience." Since November 2023, the movement has launched around 100 attacks on ships in the Red Sea that claim to have links to Israel, in response to the offensive on Gaza, which has caused a significant disruption to trade routes.