The IDF on Wednesday issued evacuation warnings to civilians in Yemeni seaports controlled by the Houthis for the second time in recent days without, at press time, having actually attacked.
The warning was sent at 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday, following a similar warning against the Houthis on Sunday, in which the military also did not actually attack.
Pressed on why the IDF would threaten to attack the Houthis on two separate occasions, days apart during the same week, without following through on the threat, the military and the Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment.
Defense Minister Israel Katz had not responded by press time.
One possibility could be to save money by flexing Israel’s muscles to cause disruptions at those ports without actually spending the enormous sums necessary to fly aircraft 1,800-2,000 km. and drop dozens of expensive bombs.
Another possibility would be to avoid footage of battles while US President Donald Trump is flying through the region, although that reason seems belied by the fact that the Houthis have increased their pace of fire on Israel.
The ports included in the warning on Wednesday were Ras Isa Port, Hodeidah Port, and Al-Salif Port.
'We urge you to evacuate these ports until further notice'
“We urge you to evacuate these ports until further notice,” said IDF Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee. “Due to the terrorist Houthi regime’s use of seaports for its terrorist activities, we urge all those present at these ports to evacuate and stay away from them for your own safety until further notice.”
Earlier on Wednesday, the IDF intercepted a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis, triggering sirens across the Jerusalem area, the southern West Bank, and the Dead Sea area.
The military said Arrow interceptors were fired, and KAN reported that American THAAD anti-ballistic missiles were also fired to intercept the missile.
No casualties were reported in the incident, except for a woman who was wounded on her way to a nearby shelter, according to Magen David Adom.
The last sirens sounded in the Israeli capital occurred 13 hours earlier, also due to a missile launch from Yemen, which was intercepted by the IDF on Tuesday evening.
Tuesday’s missile also triggered sirens across central Israel, including in Tel Aviv. Later in the night, the Houthis fired an additional missile at Israel. However, it fell while on the way, and as a result, no sirens sounded. The Houthis also fired at Israel on Friday of last week.
The US announced last week that it had reached a ceasefire with the Houthis, but the terror group stated that Israel was not included in the ceasefire and that the Iran-backed group would continue its attacks on the Jewish state.
On May 4, a Houthi missile struck near Ben-Gurion Airport, leading Israel to strike Houthi ports and their international airport extensively in two rounds of attacks on May 5 and 6.
