Saudi Arabia strikes Houthi-held Hodeidah, Yemeni group says

Saudi Arabia has launched strikes on Yemen’s Houthi-held city of Hodeidah, according to media controlled by the rebel group that controls large parts of the country.

Houthi security sources reported late on Friday that sites had been hit. Separate reports said that a Saudi ship had been hit in the Red Sea.

The strikes come amid high tension, after the Houthis announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and targeted several of its ships.

The attack appears to escalate the conflict currently rending the region, as the United States engages in hostilities with Iran, and Israel persists in implementing military operations in Gaza and Lebanon.

“A Saudi aggression comprising a series of air strikes hit facilities belonging to the telecommunications authority,” Al-Masirah TV channel said, adding that the strikes also targeted Kamaran Island.

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

Military spokesman Yahya Saree said at the time that the attack had ended a “de-escalation phase” the two sides had maintained since an informal truce took hold in 2022.

Although never formalised, the truce had held for four years and was the longest lull in hostilities since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the government.

Hodeidah’s port handles the bulk of commercial and humanitarian imports into Houthi-controlled northern Yemen, making it one of the most sensitive targets for the rebel group.

More to come.