Israeli army issues evacuation order for 3 Yemeni ports ahead of potential strikes

By JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL

The Israeli army issued evacuation orders for three Yemeni ports on Wednesday ahead of potential airstrikes.

In a post on his X account, army spokesman Avichay Adraee ordered all Yemenis to evacuate the seaports of Ras Isa, Al-Hudaydah, and Salif, which are controlled by the Houthi group, “until further notice.”

The Israeli army issued a similar evacuation order on Sunday.

Israel said that it had intercepted three missiles fired from Yemen since Tuesday.

The Houthis have targeted ships passing through the Red and Arabian seas, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden since November 2023 in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where over 52,800 people have been killed in a brutal Israeli assault for more than 19 months, most of them women and children.

The group halted attacks when a Gaza ceasefire was declared in January between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group Hamas but resumed them after Israel's renewed airstrikes on Gaza in March.