Mwatana calls for international investigation into Israeli attacks on Hodeidah (EN/AR) – Yemen

Nine workers killed, 80 injured, dozens of families homeless and major destruction

Mwatana for Human Rights said its field teams are actively documenting the impact of Israeli airstrikes on the ports of Hodeidah and Saleef, as well as on electricity plants in the city of Hodeidah in northwestern Yemen.

Last night’s attacks targeted civilian infrastructure that had been rebuilt and improved with support from UN agencies, international donors and the global community. This infrastructure is vital as the port of Hodeidah handles over 80% of Yemen’s humanitarian aid, essential goods and fuel, on which more than 28 million Yemenis depend for survival. Over the past decade of conflict, these deliveries have been carefully inspected and monitored by the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism for Yemen (UNVIM).

Throughout the conflict in Yemen, the UN Security Council has repeatedly called for the full and sustained reopening of the ports of Hodeidah and Saleef, as well as all Yemeni ports. It has stressed the importance of keeping these ports operational and accessible for commercial and humanitarian imports, including food, fuel, medical supplies, and relief items. The Council has called on all parties to “facilitate the immediate access and distribution of these vital imports to all civilian populations across the country.” The Council expressed “grave concern” about the impact of restrictions on commercial and humanitarian imports on the humanitarian situation, noting that 20.7 million people in Yemen require some form of humanitarian assistance or protection, with approximately 9.8 million in urgent need of assistance, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The importance of the port of Hodeidah to millions of residents has been consistently underscored by UN agencies and international and local humanitarian and human rights organizations throughout the decades-long conflict.

On December 21, 2018, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2541, calling for an immediate ceasefire in the city of Hodeidah and the ports of Hodeidah, Saleef and Ras Isa. The resolution also called for increased UN presence and efforts in Hodeidah and these three ports, leading to a coordinated effort to support and strengthen the Yemen Red Sea Ports Corporation. In response, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) conducted an assessment with experts from the Port of Rotterdam from June 15 to July 8, 2019, focusing on the ports of Hodeidah, Saleef and Ras Isa. Based on their findings, a comprehensive package worth 46.57 million euros was approved and implemented in three phases. The main objectives were to maintain port operations and restore them to pre-war status to facilitate the entry of vital humanitarian assistance, commercial shipments, fuel and essential goods, including medical supplies. Key components of this initiative included port rehabilitation, capacity building and operational improvements. Priority tasks included replacing navigational aids in the main port, renewing the training center, improving ambient lighting and resuming container handling operations. In addition, efforts were made to restore or improve the safety and sustainability of port operations and port facilities and to improve management and inspection processes. UNDP led this initiative in close coordination with relevant authorities, the United Nations Mission in Support of the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA), the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism for Yemen (UNVIM), the World Food Programme (WFP) and with support from international donors.

Mwatana for Human Rights confirmed through visits to local hospitals and medical facilities that six Israeli airstrikes killed nine dock workers and injured over 80. The strikes, which took place at 5:50 p.m. on Saturday, targeted oil facilities and fuel tanks in the port of Hodeidah, causing significant damage to the port’s gantry cranes and destroying or partially damaging around 43 tanks and transport tanks. In addition, the central power plant in Al-Katheeb area of ​​Al-Saleef district was hit, destroying three fuel tanks and knocking out electricity supply stations in Hodeidah city. This caused extensive damage and led to massive fires that firefighting teams were unable to extinguish and which are still burning on the second day. The airstrikes triggered widespread displacement of residents in the affected areas. Mwatana estimates that about 100 families have been displaced from the Al-Katheeb area, where the electricity plant workers live, and about 150 families have fled from the port area of ​​Hodeidah to downtown Hodeidah and Sana’a province.

Mwatana for Human Rights stated that the Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure in Hodeidah constitute war crimes and violate international humanitarian law protections for civilian objects and infrastructure. These attacks also violated the principles of proportionality, protection and distinction and undermined the protection of civilian objects under Article 54 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. This article prohibits “the deliberate restriction or obstruction of the supply of essential foodstuffs or the deliberate destruction of agricultural land, crops, livestock, water facilities and irrigation networks necessary for the survival of the civilian population.” Article 147 further considers the “large-scale and unlawful destruction of protected property and facilities” as criminal acts and serious violations of the Convention. In accordance with Rule 4(a) of Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which states that “the large-scale destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly” constitutes a serious war crime. In addition, paragraph (b) of Article 8 of the Rome Statute stipulates that “deliberate attacks against civilian objects other than military objectives”, and “launching an attack in the knowledge that it will result in accidental loss of life or injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects or widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment clearly proportional to the concrete and direct overall military advantage expected”, and “deliberate attacks or bombardments of towns, villages, dwellings or buildings which are undefended and which are not military objectives, by any means whatsoever”, and “deliberate attacks against buildings, materials, medical units and means of transport, as well as personnel using the protective symbols of the Geneva Conventions in accordance with international law”, and “deliberate use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including the deliberate obstruction of relief supplies as provided for in the Geneva Conventions”, constitute serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed conflicts within the established framework of international law.

Mwatana for Human Rights called for an independent international investigation and urged the international community to take responsibility and act decisively to prevent an escalation of violence that could plunge the Middle East and the world into new cycles of atrocities and human rights violations. The press conference stressed the need to rein in the rampant and unbridled Israeli military machine, which has no legal, humanitarian or ethical obligations whatsoever. Mwatana called on the international community to rein in the Israeli war machine, which is sending the region from one horrific conflict to the next with impunity, despite being embroiled in a spate of atrocities, bloodshed and human rights violations for over eight months.