Human Rights: Israeli attack on Hodeidah port a 'war crime' with lasting impact on millions of Yemenis

Human Rights Watch said that the Israeli airstrikes that targeted the Yemeni port of Hodeidah on the evening of July 20, 2024, constituted a presumed indiscriminate or disproportionate attack in violation of the law, and could have a long-term impact on millions of Yemenis who depend on the port for food and humanitarian aid, which could be considered a “war crime.”

"The Israeli airstrikes, which killed at least six civilians and wounded at least 80 others, hit more than twenty oil tanks and two cargo cranes in the port of Hodeidah in northwestern Yemen, in addition to a power station in the Al-Salif district of Hodeidah," it added in a statement issued on Monday.

"The attacks are presumed to have caused disproportionate damage to civilians and civilian objects," she continued, noting that serious violations of the laws of war committed willfully, that is, intentionally or recklessly, are considered war crimes.

“The Israeli attacks on Hodeida, in response to the Houthi raid on Tel Aviv, could have a lasting impact on millions of Yemenis in Houthi-controlled areas,” said Niko Jafarnia, Yemen and Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch.

“Yemenis are already suffering from widespread hunger after a decade of conflict, and these attacks will only exacerbate their suffering,” she added.

“Israeli airstrikes on vital infrastructure in Hodeidah could have a profoundly devastating impact on the lives of many Yemenis in the long term,” Jafarnia continued, stressing: “The Israelis and the Houthis must immediately stop all unlawful attacks that affect civilians and their lives.”

The organization explained that it interviewed 11 people about the Hodeidah attack, including an official in the Houthi-controlled oil company and 4 employees in agencies affiliated with the United Nations with knowledge of the port, and analyzed satellite images of the targeted sites and images of possible weapons remnants (...).

She noted that she found that Israeli forces damaged or destroyed at least 29 of the 41 oil storage facilities in the port of Hodeidah, and the only two cranes used to load and unload supplies from ships. The air strikes also destroyed oil tanks connected to the Hodeidah power station, which put the power station out of operation for 12 hours.

Human Rights Watch pointed out that the port of Hodeidah is very important for delivering food and other necessities to the Yemeni population, which depends on imports.

The statement quoted Auke Lootsma, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme, as saying: “About 70% of Yemen’s commercial imports and 80% of humanitarian aid pass through the port of Hodeidah.”

He added that the ports of Hodeidah are "critically important for commercial and humanitarian activities in Yemen."

For her part, Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, described the port as a “lifeline for millions of people” and must be “open and operational.”

About 3,400 people, all civilians, work at the port, a UN agency official said.

Regarding the provision of humanitarian aid, the organization said, “Other Yemeni ports lack the same capacity to manage imports, and the destruction and damage to oil tanks and loading cranes, and the wider damage and destruction to port facilities, means that rebuilding these facilities will require a lot of funding and time.”

She pointed out that after analyzing satellite images, she concluded that the oil tanks had been burning for at least three days, raising environmental concerns.

“The toxic fumes from burning thousands of tons of fuel... undoubtedly pose a serious risk to public health,” said Musaed Aqlan, an environmental expert at the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies, a Yemeni think tank, adding that oil leaking from the tanks into surrounding areas “threatens to contaminate nearby water sources, soil, beaches and marine habitats.”

An official at the Houthi oil company said the oil tanks at the port were not owned by the Houthis, but by “Yemeni businessmen who import oil and resell it to gas stations and other institutions.”

Aid organizations also own some of the oil and use it for their operations. A World Food Programme official said the agency lost 780,000 litres of fuel in the attack, which it was using to “support hospital generators” and water and sanitation infrastructure across Yemen, and two officials at the UN agency said the oil at the port was imported from the UAE.

The statement noted that the Israeli airstrikes also targeted the main power station in Hodeidah. Two people familiar with Hodeidah said the power station was the main source of electricity in the city, providing power to hospitals, schools, businesses and homes. The climate in Hodeidah province is among the hottest in Yemen, making electricity essential for fans, air conditioning and refrigeration.

The international organization concluded its statement by saying, "No information has been announced indicating that weapons or military supplies were stored in or delivered to the port, or that oil and electricity, which are subject to monitoring under the Security Council resolution, were diverted to the Houthi forces, which may make the Israeli attack illegally indiscriminate."

“However, even if the attack was against legitimate military targets, the harm to the civilian population likely rendered the attack disproportionate. In addition to the reported civilian casualties, the damage to the port facilities is presumed to cause immediate and long-term excessive harm to large segments of the Yemeni population who depend on the port of Hodeidah for their survival,” she added.