Israel's July strikes on Yemen's Hodeidah port a 'possible war crime', HR Watch says

[August 19, 2024]  By Clauda Tanios and Mohammed Ghobari
 
ADEN (Reuters) - Israeli airstrikes on Yemen's Hodeidah port last month appeared to be an indiscriminate or disproportionate attack on civilians which may amount to a war crime, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday. 

Flames and smoke rise from the site of Israeli air strikes at the port of Hodeidah, Yemen July 21, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Israel said on July 20 its warplanes struck Houthi military targets near Hodeidah.

The attack targeted oil facilities and a power station and HRW said it killed at least six people and wounded at least 80.

It took place a day after a Houthi drone hit Israel's economic hub Tel Aviv, killing one person, which HRW said also may constitute a war crime.

The retaliatory Israeli airstrikes on Hodeidah hit more than two dozen oil storage tanks and two shipping cranes in the port, as well as a power plant in the province's Salif district, Human Rights Watch said.

"The attacks appeared to cause disproportionate harm to civilians and civilian objects. Serious violations of the laws of war committed willfully, that is deliberately or recklessly, are war crimes."

Analyzed satellite imagery found that the oil tanks burned for at least three days, posing environmental concerns, according to the HRW report.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli foreign ministry.

Hodeidah, which has been under Houthi control since 2021, is critical for delivering food and other necessities to the Yemeni population, who depend on imports. About 70 percent of Yemen's commercial imports and 80 percent of its humanitarian assistance passes through the port.

The Houthis have launched missiles and drones at Israel and disrupted global trade through the Red Sea in response to Israel's assault on Gaza, further destabilizing the Middle East as war in the Palestinian enclave rages on after 10 months.

Israel says the Houthis have launched 200 attacks against it since the Gaza war began, many of them intercepted and most of them not deadly.

But a rare Houthi drone strike on July 19 that hit Tel Aviv prompted Israel to announce its first strikes against the group the next day.

The Houthi movement, known formally as Ansar Allah, said it would continue to attack Israel in response.

(Reporting by Clauda Tanios and Mohammed Ghobari, Editing by Angus MacSwan)

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