Half of Israel's Eilat Port workers to lose jobs amid Houthi attacks in Red Sea

The Histadrut Labor Federation, the umbrella organization for hundreds of thousands of public sector workers, said port management plans to fire half of the 120 employees at the port.

The dock workers plan to stage a protest on Wednesday against the planned layoffs, according to Israeli business daily Calcalist.

Israel's Eilat Port has seen an 85 percent drop in activity since Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen stepped up attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, the port's chief executive said on Thursday, December 21.

The Houthi group in Yemen has been targeting cargo ships in the Red Sea owned or operated by Israeli companies or transporting goods to and from Israel in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, where nearly 32 thousand people have been killed in a deadly Israeli offensive since last October following a Hamas attack.

With the US and UK launching retaliatory airstrikes against Houthi sites inside Yemen, the Houthis declared that they consider all American and British ships military targets.

On Tuesday, the Israeli army admitted that a cruise missile, likely fired by the Houthis, crossed into Israeli airspace and struck an open area near Eilat.

The Red Sea is one of the world's most frequently used sea routes for oil and fuel shipments.

The Red Sea crisis began on 19 October 2023, when the Houthi movement in Yemen launched missiles and armed drones at Israel, demanding an end to the invasion of the Gaza Strip.