Israel’s Eilat Port in 'near-total' shutdown amid Houthi attacks: Report

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Port of Eilat in southern Israel has been in “near-total” shutdown since Yemen's Houthi group started attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea, according to Israeli media on Wednesday.

The crisis has prompted the port owner to consider laying off half of the workforce at the port if financial assistance from the government is not received, the Israeli newspaper Calcalist reported.

“The Port of Eilat has been almost entirely closed for eight months since the Houthis started attacking ships passing through the Red Sea,” the newspaper said.

The port was Israel's main entry point for cars before the outbreak of the Gaza conflict.

"In 2023, 150,000 cars arrived through Eilat, but none have arrived in 2024,” the newspaper said.

According to the daily, Avi Hormero, chairman and owner of the port, sent an “urgent” letter to Transport Minister Miri Regev requesting a meeting about the port's “critical condition.”

“Due to the Iron Swords War and the closure of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, my partners and I, as port owners, have been bearing the enormous costs of ongoing maintenance and employee wages for the past eight months,” Hormero said in the letter.

“We believe no other business faces challenges as we do to this day," he added.

Hormero indicated that there was no option but to lay off workers.

“In light of the above, unfortunately, we have no choice but to begin laying off about 50 to 60 workers, leaving only essential staff at the port,” Hormero said.

Currently, approximately 120 people are employed at the port.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

Nearly 38,800 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 89,100 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio