Monitor/Hudaidah/Special:
The Israeli occupation army began psychological warfare in Yemen on Sunday night by announcing an imminent attack on Yemeni ports in Houthi-controlled areas and demanding the immediate evacuation of the three locations. Houthi and Arab media outlets immediately latched onto the news.
The Arabic-language spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces, in an unusual nighttime announcement, stated: “Anyone present in the ports of Hudaidah, Al-Salif, and Ras Issa must evacuate the area immediately until further notice.”
Subsequently, Israeli Channel 13 reported that Israeli fighter jets had begun a military operation against the three ports in Hudaidah Governorate, publishing news of 10 airstrikes on Ras Issa port. Arab media outlets also report the news, citing local sources about airstrikes on the three ports.
However, this did not happen. An hour after the start of the disinformation operation, which Houthi media outlets were drawn into, a withdrawal process began with the deletion of the news from social media.
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a leader in the Houthi group, said: “There is no attack on the ports (under the group’s control) at the present time, but we do not rule out the occurrence of attacks.”
The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation stated: “Israel is not attacking Yemen at this stage.”
It added: “It seems that the announcement by the Arabic-language spokesperson for the Israeli army is part of a psychological game.”
An official in the Israeli Defense Forces said: “We did not announce that we would attack Yemen ‘in the near future,’ but rather we announced the evacuation of three locations ‘until further notice.'”
