Satellite Imagery Shows Extensive Damage to Yemen Oil Fields After Israeli Strike

New satellite imagery reveals the significant damage done to oil storage facilities in Yemen's Hodeida port following Israeli airstrikes on Saturday, which marked the first direct attack by Israel on the Houthi militant group amidst escalating tensions in the Middle East.

The airstrikes targeted oil refineries and electrical infrastructure, resulting in multiple oil tanks ablaze, massive flames, and thick black smoke visible from miles away, as shown in high-resolution satellite images provided to Newsweek by Maxar Technologies.

The Israeli strike on Yemen occurred one day after the Houthis claimed responsibility for a fatal drone attack on Tel Aviv, which left at least one person dead and nearly a dozen injured in Israel's second-largest city.

"The Houthis attacked us over 200 times. The first time that they harmed an Israeli citizen, we struck them. And we will do this in any place where it may be required," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement after the strike.

The airstrike on Hodeida harbor, a crucial gateway for fuel and international aid into Houthi-held parts of Yemen, highlights the broader conflict involving multiple Iranian-backed groups targeting Israel that is further complicating the Middle Eastern geopolitical landscape.

The IDF's said that the "port serves as an entryway for Iranian weapons for the Houthi terrorist regime," and warned that "the IDF is capable of operating anywhere required and will strike any force that endangers Israelis."

Preliminary reports from the Ministry of Health in Sana'a, Yemen's capital, translated from Arabic, indicated that at least 80 people were wounded in the strikes, many with severe burns.

The bombardment has reportedly caused operational disruptions at the Hodeida port, affecting the flow of essential goods and services. Yemeni port authorities however have said that the port is operating at full capacity.

The Houthi's strike was a rare breach of Israel's "Iron Dome" air-defense system and marked the group's first lethal strike inside Israel. The drone hit near the U.S. Embassy in central Tel Aviv, some 1,500 miles from southern Yemen. Previous Houthi projectiles launched toward Israel had been intercepted.

The Houthis have repeatedly attacked dozens of commercial ships in the Red Sea in an act of defiance against continued Israeli offensives in Gaza since Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack, which killed approximately 1,200 people in Israel and took 250 hostages.

Following Hamas' attack, Israel launched numerous ground and air invasions of Gaza, killing 34,000 Palestinians and displacing another two million, according to the Associated Press citing Hamas figures.

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