Saudi Arabia Strikes Houthi-Controlled Hodeidah As Yemen Conflict Escalates

Saudi Arabia carried out air strikes on the Houthi-controlled Yemeni city of Hodeidah late on Friday, according to Al Jazeera, marking a fresh escalation in Yemen's conflict as tensions continue across the region amid the war between the United States and Iran.

According to Al Jazeera, the strikes prompted the Houthi-controlled Foreign Ministry to warn that Riyadh's actions would lead to further escalation, while the Saudi-led coalition accused the Houthis of provoking the latest round of hostilities through attacks on Red Sea shipping.

“By targeting Hodeidah, the Saudi regime has made ‘escalation for escalation’ the defining feature of the coming phase,” said the Foreign Ministry.

The Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV reported that the strikes hit facilities belonging to the telecommunications authority in Hodeidah. The outlet also said Kamaran Island was targeted.

According to Al Masirah TV, one woman was injured in the strike on Kamaran Island.

Explosions were also seen at Hodeidah's port, Reuters reported, citing witnesses. However, the Saudi-led coalition denied targeting the port.

Hodeidah is a vital entry point for areas under Houthi control, with its port handling most commercial and humanitarian imports into northern Yemen.

Major-General Turki al-Maliki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, blamed the Houthis for the latest escalation, describing the group's attacks on Red Sea shipping as “cowardly and reckless”.

The coalition would continue to “take all necessary operational actions and measures”, al-Maliki said in a statement, adding that if the Houthis continue their “hostile acts”, a response will be “carried out without hesitation”.

Al Jazeera reported that the strikes followed Houthi claims on Wednesday that they had targeted several Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea using drones and missiles, damaging at least one vessel. The group said the ships had violated a blockade announced two days earlier.

The blockade, announced on July 20, was described by Houthi leaders as an “eye for an eye” response to a strike on Sanaa's international airport a week earlier, which they blamed on Saudi Arabia.

The internationally recognised Yemeni government, backed by Riyadh, claimed responsibility for the airport strike, saying it was carried out because of the unauthorised arrival of an Iranian plane.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the airport attack had ended a “de-escalation phase” that had existed between the two sides since an informal truce came into effect in 2022.

Although the truce was never formally signed, it lasted for four years and marked the longest period of reduced fighting since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government.

According to Al Jazeera, while the Houthis imposed a blockade on Red Sea shipping during the height of Israel's military assault on Gaza, the group has largely stayed out of the ongoing US-Iran conflict.

However, the recent exchange of attacks between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis risks further escalation in the region and additional global economic fallout if Red Sea shipping is disrupted. Iran has already largely blocked the Strait of Hormuz, another key route for global energy trade.

The Red Sea remains one of the world's busiest maritime corridors, handling roughly 30 per cent of global sea container traffic.

Earlier on Friday, Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdul Salam said the group was not blocking the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean.

“The announced Yemeni position … is limited to a naval blockade targeting only the Saudi side in response to its siege of Yemen and its refusal to accept any fair approach to a solution that guarantees the security, sovereignty and independence of the Yemeni people,” Abdul Salam said in a social media post.

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