Human Rights Watch released a report Monday, asserting that Israel’s “indiscriminate and disproportionate” July airstrikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah port violated laws of war. Yemeni civilians heavily rely on receiving food and humanitarian aid at the Hodeidah port in Al Hudaydah, located on the Red Sea coast in western Yemen. On July 20, 2024, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) attacked the port in retaliation for a Houthi drone strike on Tel Aviv, damaging oil and electrical facilities, resulting in the death of six Yemen Petroleum Company employees and injuries to over 80 civilians.
The airstrike, termed Operation Outstretched Arm, destroyed a power plant essential for providing electricity to Al Hudaydah’s hospitals, schools, and homes. An estimated 70 percent of commercial goods and 80 percent of humanitarian supplies enter Yemen through this port. The IDF’s operation reportedly destroyed more than half of the port’s oil storage tanks and oil tanks linked to the power plant.
Human Rights Watch emphasized that the Israeli attack breached Articles 51 and 54 of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions, both of which Yemen is a party to, prohibiting indiscriminate attacks and the removal of essential supplies like food and water. Niku Jafarina, a researcher from Human Rights Watch, stressed that these actions would exacerbate Yemen’s ongoing humanitarian crisis, which includes widespread poverty, the displacement of 4.5 million people, and significant portions of the population being at risk of hunger.
Human Rights Watch conducted interviews with members of Yemen’s Houthi rebel group, who stated that the Israeli strikes occurred when only civilians were present. The UN Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement has established that there is no military presence at the port to prevent harm to civilians and infrastructure.
The organization also recommended that the United States and the United Kingdom halt offering military aid to Israel, contending that such support makes them complicit in Israel’s actions. Meanwhile, the Houthi drone strike on Tel Aviv, which injured 10 people and killed one, may also constitute a war crime, as noted by the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen. Previous Houthi attacks on international vessels were termed “international piracy” by the US Department of State.
The Iran-backed Houthis launched the Tel Aviv drone strike on July 19, 2024. The UAV struck an apartment building near the US Embassy, leaving a significant impact on the urban landscape of Tel Aviv, prompting the IDF to conduct retaliatory strikes the following day.
Read the full report from Human Rights Watch here.