Saudi-led strikes hit Yemen's Ras Isa port and a Bajil oil site, wounding seven, Houthis say; Hodeidah medical faculty also struck
Houthi health officials say four people were hurt at Ras Isa port and three at a Bajil oil station. The coalition says it hit missile and drone resources.
At a glance
- Houthi authorities say Saudi-led coalition strikes wounded seven people: four at Ras Isa, Yemen's main fuel import port on the Red Sea, and three at an oil company station in Bajil district.
- Houthi media say two raids also hit the Faculty of Medicine at Hodeidah University; no casualties were reported there.
- Coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki called it a precision operation against resources used for Houthi missiles and drones, without naming targets.
- The casualty figures come from the Houthi health ministry and have not been independently confirmed.
- Yemen's war between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia reignited in July; Houthi attacks killed 24 people inside Saudi Arabia in October.
Saudi-led coalition airstrikes hit Ras Isa, the Red Sea port that handles most of the fuel reaching Houthi-held Yemen, and an oil company station inland in Bajil district, wounding seven civilians, Houthi health officials said on Monday. Houthi media said two more raids struck the Faculty of Medicine at Hodeidah University, without casualties.
Anees Alasbahi, spokesman for the Houthi-run health ministry, said four people were wounded at Ras Isa and three at the Bajil oil site. Those figures come only from Houthi authorities; there has been no independent confirmation.
What the coalition says it hit
Coalition spokesman Brigadier General Turki al-Malki described the strikes, which began on Sunday, November 1, as "a precision operation" to neutralise vital resources the Houthis use for their ballistic missile and drone programmes. The coalition's statement did not name any location, and it has not commented on the reports of strikes on the university.
The Houthis' Al-Masirah television said two raids hit the oil company station in Bajil, about 50 kilometres east of Hodeidah city on the road to Sanaa, and two others hit the medical faculty. Two residents of Hodeidah said they heard an explosion near the campus. The Houthi education ministry confirmed an attack on the university but did not say whether anyone was hurt.
Where the strikes fell
| Site | What it is | Reported damage | Wounded (Houthi figures) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ras Isa port | Main fuel import terminal on the Red Sea coast, north of Hodeidah | Struck | 4 |
| Oil company station, Bajil district | Fuel storage and distribution site inland | Two raids | 3 |
| Faculty of Medicine, Hodeidah University | University campus in Hodeidah city | Two raids | None reported |
Why Ras Isa matters to ordinary Yemenis
Hodeidah province is the gateway for most food and fuel entering the north of Yemen, where the majority of the population lives. Fuel landed at Ras Isa runs water pumps, hospital generators and the trucks that move flour across the country. Any lasting damage to the terminal tends to show up quickly in petrol queues and higher transport prices in Sanaa and other Houthi-held cities.
The port has been hit before. In April 2025 US strikes on Ras Isa killed about 80 people, according to the Houthi authorities, in one of the deadliest single attacks of that campaign. Monday's reported toll is far lower, but the target is the same piece of infrastructure.
A war that came back in July
The fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis had largely paused after a 2022 truce. It flared again in July, and since then the Houthis have fired missiles and drones at Saudi oil facilities and airports, killing 24 people inside the kingdom in October alone, while the coalition has stepped up air raids in Yemen. Saudi air defences have intercepted missiles aimed at Riyadh, Jeddah, Taif and the Eastern Province, and several airlines have cut flights to Saudi cities.
The Houthis have also repeated threats against the state oil company Saudi Aramco and against Saudi aviation. Monday's strikes on fuel sites look like a direct answer: the coalition is going after the fuel and launch infrastructure behind those attacks, and the Houthis are framing the raids as attacks on civilian sites, pointing to the university.
What to watch
The Houthis usually respond to major coalition raids within days, often with missile or drone launches towards southern Saudi Arabia. Any further damage report from Ras Isa, or a shipping notice on fuel deliveries into Hodeidah, will show how badly the terminal was hit. The UN has warned that more than 19 million Yemenis need humanitarian help, and the north depends heavily on imports through Hodeidah's ports.
