Iran-backed Houthi rebels have vowed to retaliate against Saudi Arabia following accusations that the kingdom targeted civilian infrastructure, as the conflict continues to widen across the Middle East.
Saudi forces struck Houthi military positions in Hodeida on Friday, with rebel media reporting two injuries after the Yemeni group announced a maritime blockade of the oil-rich kingdom and claimed attacks on Saudi vessels.
This latest escalation opens a new front in the regional conflict that has intensified since U.S.-Israeli strikes on Tehran in February, compounded by Iran’s own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz—the only other maritime route available to Saudi Arabia.
“The Saudi enemy’s targeting of civilian facilities in Hodeida and Kamaran Island constitutes a dangerous escalation,” the Houthis’ Ansarollah media stated via Telegram.
“We affirm that these recent crimes will not go unanswered.”
A Yemeni security source told AFP that a naval base in the port city of Hodeida and a military camp on Kamaran Island were among the Saudi targets.
The Saudi-led coalition claimed it struck Houthi positions and destroyed assets threatening commercial shipping in response to attacks on Red Sea trade routes.
The strikes followed Houthi claims of attacks on two Saudi ships earlier in the week, with Saudi Arabia confirming one incident in the Red Sea.
“The terrorist Houthi military… targeted commercial ships in the Red Sea,” said Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, on X.
The coalition stated it carried out a “decisive and strong response” against Houthi military sites used to threaten Red Sea shipping, adding that the “military response is now over.”
– Blockade –
Residents of Hodeida reported hearing explosions, including near the port area.
“Air strikes targeted the telecommunications building near the eastern gate of Hodeida port and the naval base at Ras al-Kathib in Hodeida,” the security source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Houthi-run al-Masirah television reported two people were wounded—a worker in Hodeida and a woman on Kamaran Island.
The station also confirmed that a telecommunications building in Hodeida was hit.
On Monday, the rebels issued a radio message to ships warning they would target vessels “belonging to (the) Saudi enemy” that fail to comply with their blockade.
Saudi state media cited a transport authority official on Friday stating that “the vessel (NCC MASA), belonging to a Saudi company, was targeted while sailing in the Red Sea today… resulting in minor damage to the vessel’s hull.”
The ship resumed its journey afterward, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
Access to the Red Sea has become increasingly critical for Saudi Arabia to maintain oil shipments as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz faces disruption.
Data from Kpler shows that in April and May, all Saudi seaborne crude exports departed from its Red Sea port of Yanbu, accounting for 92% of total seaborne crude exports in June and 78% through mid-July.
The Houthis have been engaged in conflict with Yemen’s government since 2014, in a war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
The recent exchange of fire threatens to undermine a 2022 truce that has remained in effect despite its formal expiration.