Live
[Handout/Houthi Media Center via AFP]
By Edna Mohamed and Federica Marsi
Published On 20 Jul 2024

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20 Jul 2024 - 23:59
 (23:59 GMT)

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For more on Israel’s strike on Yemen’s port of Hodeidah, check out our story here.

Or read more about the war in Gaza with this personal account of the impact of Israel’s evacuation orders here.

 

20 Jul 2024 - 23:45
 (23:45 GMT)

Here’s what happened today

This live page will soon be closing. Here are today’s top updates:

  • Israeli air strikes have targeted oil storage facilities in the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah. The Health Ministry run by the Houthis said at least three people were killed and 87 injured.
  • Yemen’s Houthis said they will not hesitate in attacking “vital targets” in Israel. The Houthi Supreme Political Council says there will be an “effective response” to Israel’s air strikes.
  • Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that Israel will defend itself “by all means”.
  • Civilians have been injured in an Israeli air raid on Aadloun, in southern Lebanon, which hit an ammunition depot.
  • Several people have been reported killed amid ongoing strikes in Gaza, including on the Nuseirat refugee camp.
20 Jul 2024 - 23:30
 (23:30 GMT)

Video shows aftermath of Israeli strike on southern Lebanon

Lebanese media have posted videos of the aftermath of an Israeli strike on the town of Aadloun which hit an ammunition depot.

It shows flames and smoke rising following a large explosion. The National News Agency said the blast sent shrapnel flying, injuring several civilians.

20 Jul 2024 - 23:15
 (23:15 GMT)

Death toll in Israeli raids on Yemen’s Hodeidah rises to three

Three people have been killed and 87 wounded in Israeli air raids that hit the Yemeni city of Hodeidah on Saturday, the Ministry of Health, which operates in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, has said.

 

20 Jul 2024 - 23:00
 (23:00 GMT)

Three killed, including child, in Bureij camp

A child has been killed in an Israeli bombing of the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, while several wounded were transferred to Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah.

The child was among three people killed in the strike, which targeted the home of the Khalifa family.

The Qassam Brigades said it targeted an Israeli Apache helicopter with a SAM 7 missile while it was firing at citizens east of the Bureij refugee camp.

20 Jul 2024 - 22:45
 (22:45 GMT)

CENTCOM destroys Houthi-operated drone over Red Sea

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces in the past 24 hours destroyed a Houthi-operated uncrewed aerial vehicle over the Red Sea which “presented an imminent threat to US and coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region”.

“These actions were taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure,” it said on X.

20 Jul 2024 - 22:30
 (22:30 GMT)

At least 12 reported killed amid ongoing strikes in Gaza

At least seven people have been killed and several injured in an Israeli raid that targeted a commercial establishment in the town of Abasan al-Kabira near Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

Al Jazeera correspondents said at least one person was killed as Israel bombed a house in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.

At least four Palestinians were also killed in a raid in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp.

20 Jul 2024 - 22:15
 (22:15 GMT)

Israeli senior ministers boycotted vote to approve Yemen strike: Report

Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Justice Minister Yariv Levin have boycotted a security cabinet meeting in which the decision to strike Yemen’s Hodeidah port was made, Israeli media have reported, saying they were not informed of the plan ahead of time.

Channel 12 reported that the ministers refused to attend after being summoned to the meeting just 45 minutes in advance. The Walla news outlet said relevant information was sent from the defence establishment to the Knesset as the attack was already under way.

Disagreements within the Israeli coalition governments have simmered since the onset of the war on Gaza.

20 Jul 2024 - 22:00
 (22:00 GMT)

Two Israeli soldiers wounded in Hezbollah attack: Military

The Israeli military said that the two soldiers were lightly and moderately wounded in an explosive-laden drone attack by Hezbollah in the northern occupied Golan Heights.

According to the military, several drones entered Israeli airspace and Israel launched missiles at them.

But the military said the drones were not intercepted, leading to the injury of the two soldiers.

20 Jul 2024 - 21:45
 (21:45 GMT)

Herzog says Israel has ‘fundamental duty’ to act against its enemies

Israeli President Isaac Herzog says Israel has a “fundamental duty” to act against its enemies and that its attack on the Houthi-held port city of Hodeidah sends them “a clear message”.

“Israel has shown maximum restraint for many months in the face of repeated attacks by the Houthis against our citizens,” he wrote on X.

“Israel has every right to defend itself and its people, and indeed a fundamental duty to act against anyone who undermines its sovereignty.”

20 Jul 2024 - 21:30
 (21:30 GMT)
Analysis

Ceasefire in Gaza key to regional de-escalation

Israel’s attack on Yemen’s port of Hodeidah is the latest demonstration that fears of a regional escalation are grounded, says HA Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

“Israel may think that it can retaliate just this one time without taking it up a notch, but the Houthis have said that they will retaliate and respond,” Hellyer told Al Jazeera.

“This attack doesn’t remove the Houthis’ resolve or establish Israeli deterrence. All it does is present the Houthis as a worthwhile adversary and they might make a lot out of that.”

The analyst said the Houthis made it clear that they will only stop when a ceasefire deal is achieved in Gaza. Their conduct during a temporary reprieve in fighting in the Strip earlier this year suggests they take the pledge seriously.

Therefore, “the key to unlocking a de-escalation is a ceasefire in Gaza”, Hellyer said.

20 Jul 2024 - 21:15
 (21:15 GMT)

Iran condemns Israel’s air strikes on Yemen

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman has warned about the possibility of a wider regional war due to Israel’s “dangerous adventurism”.

“Quiet will not return to the region so long as Israeli attacks on Palestine, especially in the Gaza Strip, continue,” the spokesman said.

Israel and “its allies, especially Washington, are responsible for the dangerous repercussions of the attacks on Yemen”.

20 Jul 2024 - 21:08
 (21:08 GMT)
Houthi

Israeli army says no ‘security incident’ in Eilat after reports of explosions

The Israeli army says there has been no “security incident” in its southernmost town of Eilat after it had earlier said it was looking into reports of explosions.

“From an investigation, it appears that no shots were fired into the area of the city and likewise, no interceptor was launched,” the army said on X. “There is no fear of a security incident.”

20 Jul 2024 - 21:00
 (21:00 GMT)

Health Ministry says 80 wounded in Israeli strikes on Yemen

At least 80 people were wounded in Israeli strikes that hit the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah earlier today, the Health Ministry run by the Houthis has said.

The strikes, which triggered a massive blaze in the port area, left “80 wounded, most of them with severe burns,” the ministry said in a statement carried by Houthi media. It did not report any deaths.

20 Jul 2024 - 20:46
 (20:46 GMT)
Houthi

Israeli military looking into reports of explosions in Eilat

Israel’s military says it is looking into initial reports of explosions heard in the Red Sea port city of Eilat.

It is unclear what caused the reported blasts in Israel’s southernmost city.

We will bring you more information on this as we get it.

20 Jul 2024 - 20:45
 (20:45 GMT)

EU backs ICJ ruling on illegal Israeli occupation

The top UN court’s ruling that Israel’s 57-year occupation of Palestinian land is illegal is “largely consistent with EU positions”, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, says.

The sweeping opinion on Friday by The Hague-based ICJ, which called for the occupation to end as soon as possible, was immediately slammed as a “decision of lies” by Israel.

But Borrell said the bloc had taken “good note” of the court’s ruling and urged further backing for the court’s opinion.

“In a world of constant and increasing violations of international law, it is our moral duty to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to all ICJ decisions in a consistent manner, irrespective of the subject in question,” he said.

Borrell added in a statement that the opinion “will need to be analysed more thoroughly, including in view of its implications for EU policy”.

20 Jul 2024 - 20:39
 (20:39 GMT)
Developing

Israeli raid on southern Lebanon hits ammunition depot: NNA

Lebanon’s NNA is also reporting that the Israeli raid on the southern town of Aadloun hit an ammunition depot without saying who it belonged to.

Three unnamed sources earlier told Reuters that the strike hit a Hezbollah ammunition depot.

NNA reported that in the town of Kharayeb, which was especially affected by flying shrapnel, at least three people have been injured.

20 Jul 2024 - 20:30
 (20:30 GMT)

Netanyahu vows: ‘We will defend ourselves by all means’

The Israeli prime minister has warned that Israel will “defend ourselves by all means”, hours after fighter jets struck a Houthi-controlled port in Yemen in retaliation for a deadly drone attack on Tel Aviv.

“I have a message for Israel’s enemies: Make no mistake. We will defend ourselves by all means, on all fronts. Anyone who harms us will pay a very heavy price for their aggression,” he said in a televised address the day after a drone killed a civilian in Israel’s second largest city.

20 Jul 2024 - 20:29
 (20:29 GMT)
Developing

Civilians injured in Israeli strike on southern Lebanon

Civilians have been injured in an Israeli air raid on Aadloun in southern Lebanon, the National News Agency (NNA) has reported.

Several people have been hospitalised due to injuries and smoke inhalation.

The agency said the explosion sent shrapnel flying and caused panic among residents. The Kharayeb municipality has asked residents to remain indoors.

20 Jul 2024 - 20:15
 (20:15 GMT)

Hezbollah: Israel’s Yemen strikes herald ‘new, dangerous phase’

Lebanon’s Hezbollah says the air strikes by Israel on the armed group’s Yemeni allies, the Houthi rebels, mark a dangerous turn more than nine months into the war on Gaza.

“The foolish step taken by the Zionist enemy heralds a new, dangerous phase of a very important confrontation across the entire region,” the group said in a statement.