Around 50 martyred, injured in US-UK aggression on Yemeni cities
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The assault comes as Yemen enforces a ban on Israeli ships entering designated zones in response to the Israeli regime's siege on Gaza.
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Oil tanks burn at a port in Hodeidah following Israeli airstrike, Yemen, Saturday, July 20, 2024 (AP)
A US-UK aggression targeted Yemen, striking the capital Sanaa several times on Saturday following the reinstatement of Yemen's ban on Israeli ships passing through designated areas.
Several air raids launched by the US-UK coalition targeted a residential neighborhood in the Sha'ub district, north of the capital, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported.
The aggression, according to the Yemeni Health Ministry spokesman, Anis al-Asbahi, who spoke with Al Mayadeen, led to the martyrdom of 13 civilians and the injury of nine others, most of them in a critical condition, in a preliminary toll of the US-UK aggression.
Meanwhile, Civil Defense teams continue their rescue operations in the area affected by the US-UK strikes north of Sanaa, according to the Yemeni Security Media Center.
US military sources revealed that US warplanes took off from the aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman in the Red Sea to launch raids on Yemeni sites.
Officials in Washington and the Middle East were bracing on Saturday for a counterattack by Yemen's Ansar Allah.
Later, our correspondent reported that the US-UK coalition also targeted the city of Saada, north of Yemen.
Shortly after, Saada came under a renewed attack with a series of airstrikes by US-UK aircraft, as reported by our correspondent, followed by another round of raids targeting the outskirts of Dhamar city and Ans district, east of Dhamar Governorate and another targeting al-Bayda Governorate in central Yemen. Meanwhile, a US official told Reuters that US strikes against Yemen will last days and possibly even weeks.
Soon after midnight, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that a US airstrike targeted a quarry to the east of Dhamar city. Another eight airstrikes launched by US-UK warplanes targeted the al-Bayda Governorate.
According to our correspondent, an initial toll has found that at least 23 civilians, mostly women and children, were either martyred or injured in the strikes that targeted Quzha in northern Saada. In detail, 10 civilians were martyred and 13 others were injured in the strikes. In the same governorate, a civilian was martyred, and another was injured due to an airstrike that targeted a residential area in Azla al-Sha'af. Another home was also targeted in al-Talh city.
Latest updated toll
On Sunday morning, an updated toll showed that nearly 50 civilians were killed or injured in the US-UK aggression on the governorates of Sanaa and Saada. At least 25 civilians were martyred across Yemen and another 23 were injured in the strikes, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported.
Early on Sunday, several strikes targeted the Attan area in Sanaa and the city of Dahyan in Saada. According to our correspondent, these strikes targeted civilian infrastructure as well as residential areas.
Two power plants were also struck in the latest wave of airstrikes, resulting in a power outage in Dahyan.
Trump announces strikes, promises 'overwhelming lethal force'
US President Donald Trump announced launching military strikes against Yemen's Ansar Allah on Saturday over the group's operations in the Red Sea, warning "hell will rain down upon you" if they did not stop targeting Israeli and Israeli-affiliated commercial vessels and US warships active in the region.
Trump also warned Iran that it needed to immediately stop supporting the group, promising that if it threatened the United States, "America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!"
"The Houthi attack on American vessels will not be tolerated. We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
"Your time is up, and your attacks must stop, starting today. If they don't, hell will rain down upon you like nothing you have ever seen before," Trump audaciously said, threatening Ansar Allah over its support for Gaza.
The New York Times earlier cited two US officials as saying that Washington is planning to launch airstrikes on several targets in Yemen.
The NYT reported that the United States started large-scale military strikes against "dozens of targets" in Yemen, noting that US President Trump ordered airstrikes on alleged "radars, air defenses, and missile and drone systems", however, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that several airstrikes by the US-UK coalition of aggression targeted a residential neighborhood in al-Jarf north of Sanaa, resulting in civilian casualties.
US officials pointed out that the strikes allegedly targeting the Yemeni Armed Forces' arsenal could last for several days and intensify in scope and scale depending on the Yemeni forces' retaliatory response.
This comes four days after the Yemeni Armed Forces announced a resumption on banning all Israeli ships from specified areas in the Red Sea, Arab Sea, as well as Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Aden Gulf, with the Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson Yahya Saree warning that any Israeli ships that violate this ban will be attacked.
Yemen vows military action against 'Israel'
Yemen has pledged to take action against "Israel" after it refused to lift the blockade on military aid to Gaza, aiming to pressure the occupation into ending the siege, while a senior Yemeni military source told Al Mayadeen on March 11 that "Israel" had failed to comply with the agreement and did not lift the siege on Gaza, emphasizing that Yemen's next steps will be determined by this violation.
The source confirmed that the army, along with all its military formations, has finalized its preparations and remains in a state of readiness for orders, adding that Yemen's naval operations are centered on breaking the blockade and securing the delivery of aid to Gaza.
The leader of the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement, Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, declared on March 9 that military operations targeting Israeli-linked vessels would resume if humanitarian aid does not reach Gaza within the four-day deadline he had set last week.
Previously, Sayyed Abdul-Malik set a four-day deadline on March 7 for mediators to ensure the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, warning that if the Israeli occupation continued to obstruct aid deliveries, naval operations targeting Israeli-linked vessels would resume.
Despite this, "Israel" continued to impose its siege on Gaza, starting with the blocking of humanitarian aid from entering the strip on March 2, and most recently cutting the electricity supply from Gaza, according to the Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen.
Yemen resumes ban on Israeli ships
Previously, Sayyed al-Houthi said Sanaa was continuously monitoring and observing developments in Gaza amid the Israeli occupation's complete evasion of its commitments to the ceasefire agreement.
In a late February speech, Sayyed al-Houthi also revealed that Yemen was prepared to intervene militarily had Trump carried out his threat to restart the war on Gaza if Hamas did not release the Israeli captives.
"Yemen remains steadfast in its support for the Palestinian people and Resistance factions in confronting Israel’s attempts to evade the ceasefire agreement and its second phase," al-Houthi emphasized, warning that if the war is reignited in Gaza, "the entire Zionist entity, starting with occupied Yafa, will come under fire," amid the Yemeni support and military intervention.
Sayyed al-Houthi reiterated his stance on March 7, giving mediators a four-day deadline to ensure the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, warning that if the Israeli occupation continues to block aid deliveries, naval operations against Israeli-linked vessels will resume.
Al-Houthi accused the Israeli occupation of delaying its commitments under the Gaza ceasefire agreement, particularly concerning humanitarian provisions. He stated that while Hamas had fully honored its obligations, the occupation had failed to uphold its side of the deal.
"The humanitarian aspect of the agreement includes clear obligations with guarantees from mediators, yet Israel is trying to evade them," he said.
Sayyed al-Houthi also condemned intensified Israeli attacks in the occupied West Bank and al-Quds, highlighting the role of Israeli settlers in escalating violence against Palestinians. He criticized US support for the Israeli occupation under President Donald Trump, saying Washington’s backing had emboldened the regime's policies of displacement and aggression against Palestinians.
