Bahrain’s Al-Ashtar Brigades claims responsibility for May 2 attack on Israeli port

May 5, 2024 - 0:50

The Bahraini-based Al-Ashtar Brigades (AAB) have claimed responsibility for a rare attack on the Israeli-controlled port of Eilat amid the growing regional opposition to the Zionist regime’s onslaught against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The Al-Ashtar Brigades, which is the paramilitary branch of the Islamic Resistance in Bahrain, said in a statement on Saturday that it had used drones to hit “vital targets” in Eilat, known as Umm Al-Rashrash in the Arab world, on May 2.

The group said the targets had been hit to support the resilient people of Gaza in their struggle against the Israeli regime, Press TV reported.

The statement said operations against Israel will continue unless there is a stop to the war and blockade on Gaza.

It is a first time that Al-Ashtar Brigades attacks Eilat, a key Israeli trade port on the Red Sea. The port has been targeted in similar attacks by regional resistance groups in the past months, including by Yemen’s government led by the Houthi Ansarullah movement and by Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Iraqi resistance fighters.

Trade via the port has decreased significantly since the Yemenis launched attacks on shipping in the Red Sea in November.

Reports on Thursday indicated that drones operated by the Bahraini resistance had targeted ports infrastructure controlled and operated by Trucknet, an Israeli company which has rerouted its trade to ports in the Persian Gulf to keep them safe from Yemeni attacks.

The anti-Israeli campaign by regional resistance groups started after Israel launched an all-out invasion of Gaza in early October following an unprecedented military operation by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas on southern Israel.

That comes as nearly 35,000 people have been killed in nearly seven months of Israeli aggression on Gaza.