Israel issues evacuation warning for Hodeidah, says will attack Yemen port city in next few hours

“For your safety, we urge all present at Port of Hodeidah and the ships anchored there to evacuate the area immediately," IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee said.

The Israeli military has issued an evacuation order for the Hodeidah port in Yemen on Tuesday, while warning that it will be attacking the area in upcoming hours, Reuters reported.

A forklift carries a shipping container at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen.(Reuters)

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Col. Avichay Adraee urged residents in the port city to evacuate ahead of the attack. “Urgent Warning to Everyone Present at the Port of Hodeidah in Yemen…The Defense Army will attack in the coming hours in the area specified on the map in light of the military activities carried out by the terrorist Houthi regime there,” Adraee said in a post on X.

“For your safety, we urge all those present at the Port of Hodeidah and the ships anchored there to evacuate the area immediately,” the IDF spokesman said, adding that anyone who chose to stay back in the area would “put their life in danger”.

This comes days after Israel carried out heavy airstrikes in Yemen, killing dozens, in response to the Houthi rebels' drone attack which struck an Israeli airport.

The Israeli strikes in Yemen on September 10 killed at least 46 people, wounding more than 160 others, with most of the casualties being in the country's Capital Sanaa, according to the Houthi-run health ministry.

In Sanaa, a military headquarters and a fuel station were among the sites hit, the health ministry stated. Al-Masirah, a Houthi-controlled satellite news channel, had also reported that neighbouring houses near the military building were also damaged.

This would be the latest in a series of airstrikes carried out by Israel, with the one on August 30 leading to the deaths of the Houthi prime minister and other top officials. This was a major escalation in the nearly 2-year-old conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group, and the first such which targeted senior officials in Yemen.