Human Rights Watch released a report on Monday that said the July 20 Israeli airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodeidah could be a war crime since the attack caused disproportionate harm to civilians.
The Israeli airstrikes, which came in response to a Houthi drone attack that killed one civilian in Tel Aviv, targeted oil storage tanks, shipping cranes, and a powerplant. The strikes killed six civilians, all employees of the Yemen Petroleum Company, and caused an estimated $20 million in damage.
“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,” HRW said.
According to the Yemen Data Project (YDP), the Israeli attack resulted in more civilian harm than the hundreds of strikes the US and the UK have launched on Yemen since January combined.
YDP put the death toll in the Israeli attack at nine civilians and said 83 more were wounded. It said the US and British bombing campaign had killed a total of 19 civilians and injured 55 others.
The Israeli attack on Hodeidah could have a lasting impact on the millions of Yemenis who live in Houthi-controlled areas. From 2015-2022, a US-backed Saudi-led coalition imposed a blockade on Houthi-controlled Yemen, which is where most Yemenis live. During that time, the Saudi-led war on Yemen killed at least 377,000 people, more than half of which died of starvation and disease caused by the siege.
Yemenis have had some relief since a Houthi-Saudi ceasefire was enacted in April 2022, but the Israeli attack on Hodeidah and the new US bombing campaign threatens the flow of aid and imports in general.
“The Israeli attacks on Hodeidah in response to the Houthis’ strike on Tel Aviv could have a lasting impact on millions of Yemenis in Houthi-controlled territories,” said Niku Jafarnia, Yemen and Bahrain researcher at HRW. “Yemenis are already enduring widespread hunger after a decade-long conflict. These attacks will only exacerbate their suffering.”
The US has continued its bombing campaign in Yemen, which was launched in response to Houthi attacks on Israel-linked shipping. The US and British strikes on Yemen have only escalated the situation as the Houthis expanded their targeting of commercial shipping.
The Houthis have launched missiles and drones toward Israel in response to the genocidal war in Gaza. The drone in Tel Aviv was the only one to cause any casualties inside Israel. HRW said the Houthi drone attack may also “amount to a war crime.”