News - Middle East: In a rare instance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted the pain caused by Yemeni strikes on the Israeli occupation. During a press conference on Wednesday, Netanyahu said Israeli forces would remain at the Philadelphi Corridor “to protect the port of Eilat.”

Netanyahu’s justification of “protecting Eilat” seems an attempt to soothe the Zionist settlers, as the port has become a ghost town due to continued Yemeni strikes since February. Eilat handles 40 percent of Israel's imported goods, according to Israeli government data.

Manipulating The Truth

Despite Netanyahu’s lies to avoid a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, he used the disruption at Eilat to gain settlers' support, ignoring that the port’s shutdown is a result of Israeli aggression on Gaza. Settlers, frustrated by his refusal to complete a prisoner exchange deal and the scarcity of essential goods due to the port closure, face rising prices. The solution to their suffering lies in Netanyahu’s hands, as ending the aggression on Gaza would restore normalcy to the port, a condition set by Palestinian resistance for halting operations. Yemen has repeatedly stated that stopping their strikes depends on a decision by the Palestinian resistance.

From Gaza to Yemen

Netanyahu also claimed that Israeli forces at the Philadelphi Corridor aim to “prevent Palestinian resistance fighters from traveling through Rafah to Yemen and Iran to acquire weapons,” a falsehood intended to mislead. Everyone knows Palestinian resistance does not rely on such methods to obtain weapons, and it’s naïve to think they would use crossings tightly controlled by Israel. Despite Israeli presence at the Philadelphi Corridor and Rafah crossing since early May, Palestinian resistance continues its operations, proving their tactical capabilities exceed the enemy’s expectations.

Yemenis have declared their open support for Palestine’s struggle against the Israeli occupation since the regime launched a devastating war on Gaza on October 7 after the territory’s Palestinian resistance movements carried out a surprise retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupying entity.

The Yemeni forces have carried out scores of operations in support of the war-hit Gazans, striking targets throughout the occupied Palestinian territories, in addition to targeting Israeli ships or vessels heading towards ports in the occupied territories.

The Yemeni Armed Forces have said that they won’t stop their attacks until unrelenting Israeli ground and aerial offensives in Gaza end.

Israel launched its barbaric campaign of genocide in Gaza on October 7, 2023. It had in place a near-total siege on the coastal territory, which has reduced to a trickle the flow of foodstuffs, medicine, electricity, and water into the Palestinian territory.

So far, Israel has killed more than 40,861 Gazans, most of them women, children, and adolescents.