Israeli aggression on Yemen made by UK weaponry: Declassified UK
3 Min Read
"Israel's" aggression on Hodeidah has exacerbated the famine in the governorate and led to the loss of electricity capacity in one of the hottest and most humid areas.
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A handout picture obtained from Yemen's Ansar Allah Media Center shows a massive column of fire erupting following strikes in Hodeidah on July 20, 2024. (Ansar Allah Media Centre via AFP)
Israeli airstrikes on Yemen's port city of Hodeidah have killed and injured up to 155 people since July, causing more than $20 million in damage to a key harbor.
The majority of the port's fuel storage capacity has been destroyed, leaving four million people without electricity. Meanwhile, human rights groups have warned that the "disproportionate" operations may constitute war crimes.
"Israel" has bombarded Yemen twice this year, most recently on Sunday, using F-35 fighter fighters.
UK firms produce "significantly" more than 15% of every F-35 fighter jet, and Keir Starmer's administration continues to allow UK manufacturers to export F-35 components to "Israel".
On July 20, "Israel" launched its first airstrike on Yemen, killing 9 people, injuring dozens, and destroying at least 33 oil storage tanks and two cargo cranes in Hodeidah port, as well as targeting the city's key power station at Al-Kathib. The majority of the port's 150,000-tonne fuel storage capacity was ignited. The impacts resulted in massive explosions and enormous flames that lasted days.
"Israel's" raids on Sunday also targeted three power plants, including Al-Kathib, as well as four petroleum storage tanks at Ras Issa port, located north of Hodeidah.
The attacks have devastated power supplies throughout Hodeidah governorate, reducing capacity to only 25% of the required electricity in one of Yemen's hottest and most humid areas.
Targeting Hodeidah could amount to 'war crimes'
Yemeni rights watchdog Mwatana stated that Sunday's strikes on civilian infrastructure, notably electrical plants in Hodeidah, "could amount to war crimes."
Lockheed Martin builds F-35 fighter planes in the United States, with a worldwide supply chain that includes Britain. According to BAE Systems, "British ingenuity is found on dozens of [the] aircraft's key components."
These planes have been central to the Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed over 42,000 Palestinians and is now engaged in bombing raids in neighboring Lebanon and Syria.
From 2015 until 2022, Britain backed the Saudi-led war on Yemen, which resulted in the deaths of over 19,000 Yemenis "in every practical way short of engaging in combat," according to then-foreign minister Philip Hammond, despite clear evidence of war crimes.
The delivery of F-35 fighter aircraft components for use in "Israel's" intensifying aggression raises new concerns about British weapons makers' culpability in war crimes.
Human rights lawyers are preparing to challenge Starmer's stance on F-35 exports in London's High Court next month, having already warned ministers that they may face "criminal liability".
