In response to a deadly drone attack on Tel Aviv, Israel launched Operation Outstretched Arm, a high-stakes mission targeting Houthi rebels in Yemen. Using advanced air strikes, Israel destroyed crucial fuel storage and port infrastructure in Hudaydah, aiming to cripple the Houthis’ operations and send a strong deterrent message. Satellite images reveal the extensive damage, including the destruction of key cranes and energy reserves. This dramatic retaliation not only showcases Israel’s precision and technological prowess but also raises questions about the future of the conflict and whether this bold move will deter further attacks.
Several videos showing the operation to punish the Houthi rebels in Yemen for their deadly drone attack on Tel Aviv earlier this week have been issued by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The long-range airstrikes, known as Operation Outstretched Arm, targeted the destruction of petroleum storage and other facilities at a vital port in the Red Sea coastal city of Hudaydah (also spelled Hodeida), in the west. Our original reporting on the strike may be found here. According to Israel, the target set was chosen because it directly helps the Houthis receive weapons deliveries from Iran. Additionally, recent satellite imagery demonstrates the extent to which the Israeli Air Force was successful in destroying its target region.
These high-resolution satellite photos from Maxar show that most of the gasoline storage area has been destroyed. We also don’t know which areas of the facility were operational and which weren’t, nor do we know what information the Israelis used to choose how to target the location reports TWZ.
These are the pre-attack photos that were taken.
The majority of the photos and videos that we saw yesterday showed unarmed IAF F-15 Baz jets that were allegedly part of the strikes. With the introduction of several videos that feature various aspects of the procedure, that has now altered.
A man-in-the-loop (MITL) control feed from what appears to be either a SPICE 2000 guided bomb or an air-launched Delilah cruise missile may be seen in the video below. Very accurate aiming is possible with MITL, even at standoff distances. Israel prefers this form of guidance; you can learn all about it here. In this instance, heavy dockside cranes are shown to be the target or targets of various weapons being fired into them.
Watch the video below:
There are just two of these cranes at the port, and in the post-strike satellite imagery that TWZ got using Planet Labs and Maxar, both of them appear to be seriously damaged.
We see a very uncommon sighting of one of the 120th “Desert Giants” squadron’s outdated IDF KC-707 tankers refueling an F-16I. Seeing the KC-707’s remote vision system in action is undoubtedly unusual, as is the way the footage has been cropped to hide the guns and other supplies the F-16I is transporting. On its wing is an AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM).
It’s also important to note that this “Sufa” has a larger satellite communications suite mounted along its back. Although this technology is still relatively new to the F-16Is, it is not unlike other installations that have been on larger aircraft such as the KC-707 F-15A/B/C/D Bazs and F-15I Ra’ams for some time. Especially when used for long-range strike operations, the satellite terminals can provide high-performance tactical aircraft with vital, secure beyond-line-of-sight communications that can facilitate real-time remote command and control, improved situational awareness, intelligence sharing, and more. When these systems are installed, aircraft can transmit date-linked data to command centers and support aircraft located at a distance from any aircraft that is part of an active network and is in line of sight.
Another video of an F-35I Adir involved in the strikes has been released by the IDF. It stops at the end of its sortie and opens its weapons bay to reveal a live AIM-120 AMRAAM. The aircraft belongs to the “Golden Eagle” squadron, 140th.
The Houthis have made public a photo showing the appearance of the ground fire:
The strikes went much beyond what the U.S.-led coalition has carried out in previous months, and it is now known that they used F-15, F-16, and F-35 aircraft along with KC-707s. The missions were not so much concerned with multipurpose infrastructure as they were with Houthi military capabilities, particularly about the employment of weapons that could represent a threat to shipping. Sending a deterring message was evident in Israel’s decision to remove the only two massive overhead cranes at the port and completely deplete the fuel stocks in Hudaydah. The loss of energy reserves alone is significant, and replacing the cranes will be difficult, which will significantly slow down port traffic. This might therefore have far more extensive effects. According to earlier statements from the UN, over 80% of all humanitarian aid and the majority of all imports into Yemen pass through this port.
The Times of Israel claims that since October 2023, the Houthis have shot over 220 long-range weaponry into Israel. The news source adds that the drone strike that triggered this counterattack took a detour to reach its objective in Tel Aviv, making detection and interception more difficult. After flying a whopping 1,600 miles over Eastern Africa, including Egypt, the Houthi’s modified Samad-3, which they may be calling “Jaffa,” the Palestinian name for the ancient port city from which Tel Aviv grew, is said to have approached Tel Aviv from the west. To more effectively detect these small, slow targets originating from unusual directions, Israel is augmenting its force of radar operators. Similar “domain awareness” gaps have been observed by the U.S., but Israel’s integrated air defense system is likely the strongest on Earth and is incredibly dense, with special sensors able to detect these kinds of threats if they are looking in the proper direction.
All things considered, this was one of Israel’s furthest-reaching missions to date, and it reminds prospective enemies of its specialized capacity to carry out intricate air operations outside of its boundaries.
It appears that the Houthis have already retaliated to the attack by launching a ballistic missile towards Israel, which the IDF’s Arrow 3 system intercepted. There haven’t been any known attacks since then.
Whether or when the Houthis retaliate further will be intriguing to watch. They haven’t refrained from attacking Israel and ships with any kinetic force as of yet. We will now discover if Israel’s massive gesture of deterrence worked or not.
Recently, GreatGameInternational reported that Oxfam unveiled a shocking report accusing Israel of using water as a weapon in Gaza, drastically cutting the region’s water supply by 94% through targeted attacks on facilities.
