Posted on 07/20/24
| News Source: Arutz-7
IAF fighter planes on Saturday afternoon struck 12 Houthi military targets near Yemen's Al Hudaydah Port. The IDF thereafter raised the alert levels for the IAF and the Navy.
Arab media reported that Israel conducted a series of strikes against oil refinery facilities, an energy plant, and additional targets near the port. The IDF stressed that these strikes were conducted as a response to the "hundreds of attacks" against Israel since October 7.
In a statement, the IDF confirmed: "A short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck military targets of the Houthi terrorist regime in the area of the Al Hudaydah Port in Yemen in response to the hundreds of attacks carried out against the State of Israel in recent months."
The IDF stressed, "There are no changes in the Home Front Command defensive guidelines. In the case of a change to the guidelines, we will update the public accordingly."
According to Al Mayadeen, F-35s were among the planes used in the attack. Al-Hadath reported that there were at least 10 strikes.
Several hours before the attack, the Cabinet met for a special secret meeting, attended by the Sabbath-observant ministers as well. The ministers received personal invitations from the National Security Council chief, Tzachi Hanegbi, in order to prevent information from being leaked prior to the attack.
The Cabinet meeting began at 2:30p.m., and the ministers were called up only a short time prior. The meeting itself was under strict gag order. In addition to the Saturday afternoon meeting, a meeting was held Saturday morning, headed by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, along with the heads of Israel's defense echelon, including IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.
Since the war against Hamas began on October 7, 2023, Israel has chosen not to respond to the Yemenite Houthis' attacks on Eilat and the Red Sea. During that time, around 200 UAVs and cruise missiles were launched towards Israel and towards vessels sailing towards Israel in the Red Sea.