Yemen is in danger of entering an energy crisis after the US this week bombed a vital Red Sea oil terminal, disrupting fuel supplies to the rest of the country, experts tell Al Araby Al Jadeed, the sister publication of The New Arab.
At least 80 people were reportedly killed when American warplanes attacked the Ras Isa port on Thursday, making it the single-deadliest attack since the US began bombing Houthi targets 15 months ago.
The strike caused "significant damage" to the port and led to the disruption of fuel supplies, the Houthi-affiliated Red Sea Ports Corporation said Friday.
The destruction will "compound the suffering of the Yemeni people, exacerbated by the decade-long blockade," it added.
The Ras Isa port, located north of Hodeida on Yemen's Red Sea coast, has a storage capacity of 3 million barrels of oil.
Prior to the outbreak of the civil war in 2014, it served as a hub for exporting fuel from the country's oil-rich Marib province.
Nowadays, it is used by the Houthis to import gasoline, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas.
The decision by the US to target the facility is aimed at triggering a fuel crisis in Yemen, Yemeni economist Rashid Al-Haddad told Al Araby.
The bombing is a "clear indication of the failure of economic sanctions" placed on the Houthis by the US, he said.
Washington has slapped a raft of economic sanctions on Houthi-linked individuals and institutions in recent months in a bid to choke off flows of money and weapons into the country.
It accuses the group and its Iranian backers of using the profits from the fuel sales to support its military operations.
"US forces took action to eliminate this source of fuel for the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists and deprive them of illegal revenue," US Central Command said following the strike.
Experts say that there is no military justification for destroying civilian infrastructure such as Ras Isa.
"There are different ways if the US wants to punish the Houthis as it claims, such as diverting ships loaded with imported fuel to the ports of the internationally recognised Yemeni government, instead of destroying a public economic facility that belongs to the Yemeni people," said shipping expert Ahmed Marei.
Economic researcher Essam Moqbel said the strike could contravene international law because of its impact on Yemeni civilians, millions of whom are already in the throes of a humanitarian crisis.
The US has not officially banned fuel imports via the port, and should it do so in the future there are other measures that could be taken that do not result in its destruction, he said.
The US, Israel and UK began bombing Houthi sites in Yemen in January 2024 after the rebel group began targeting Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea in response to the devastating war on Gaza.
The Trump administration has escalated the bombing campaign since it took office in January this year and has vowed to continue until the Houthis stop disrupting Red Sea shipping.