Israel conducts Yemen strike utilising Saudi airspace
Israel informed Saudi Arabia in advance of its attack on the Yemeni port city of Hudaydah on Saturday, with Riyadh allowing Israeli warplanes to pass through its airspace to bomb Houthi targets, Israeli Army Radio reported
The radio station’s military correspondent, Doron Kadosh, reported that the Israeli fighter planes traversed “Saudi airspace for a large part of their journey to Yemen.”
Earlier on Saturday, the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the Israeli army had coordinated with Saudi Arabia to carry out the attack on Yemen, including aerial refueling with RAM aircraft and flying at low altitudes to evade radars.
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However, Brigadier General Turki Al-Maliki, spokesperson for the Saudi Ministry of Defence, denied Saudi involvement in the attack, stating: “Saudi Arabia has no relationship or participation in targeting Hudaydah, and the kingdom will not allow its airspace to be infiltrated by any party.”
The US administration and Central Command were informed of the operation hours before the attack, but the US has said it did not participate.
At least six people were killed and 83 others injured in Israeli airstrikes on Hudaydah Port in western Yemen on Saturday, according to the Houthi-run Health Ministry.
Israel claimed responsibility for the attacks, describing them as a “direct response” to a drone strike launched by the Houthi group on Tel Aviv on Friday, which killed an Israeli and injured ten others.
Saturday’s attack marked the first direct Israeli response to recent Houthi attacks.
Proofreading and editing by Fa’izatu Aliyu Doma, Journalist at Neptune Prime.
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