NAZARETH, (PIC)
The CEO of the Israeli port of Eilat, Gideon Golber, said that the port is suffering from massive economic losses that will force them to cut the workforce by half.
The Israeli newspaper Maariv quoted Golber as saying on Sunday that all commercial activity has stopped due to the inability of ships to pass in any direction to reach the port of Eilat, nor to pass towards Europe through the Suez Canal. Therefore, the port has ceased its activity and the income has stopped.
He pointed out that he is forced to lay off 50% of the workers in the closed port for 8 months.
He explained that the work in the port was disrupted due to the attacks carried out by the Yemeni army forces represented by the Ansar Allah group in the Red Sea.
Since November 2023, the Yemeni armed forces led by the Ansar Allah group have been carrying out almost daily attacks on ships linked to Israel, Britain, and the United States.
Golber explained that the port of Eilat is the southern gateway for the Israeli commercial transactions with the Far East, Australia and Africa.
He mentioned that the situation changed completely at the end of last November, when the Ansar Allah group took control of a ship belonging to the (NYK) company, detained the ship’s crew and closed the shipping lane, since then the port of Eilat has ceased its activity.
Golber said, “The cessation of commercial activity at the port of Eilat has caused economic losses, and half of the port workers will be dismissed during the current week, due to the inability to pay their salaries.” He added, “We have salary expenses, taxes, and property taxes, but no income, only expenses.”
The Ansar Allah group has repeatedly stressed that its attacks on the shipping lanes in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden come in support of the Palestinian resistance, and that they will not stop their attacks until the war of annihilation on Gaza is ended, the siege on the Gaza Strip is lifted, and humanitarian aid is allowed in.
Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation army has been waging a genocidal war on Gaza, resulting in more than 38,983 martyrs, and 89,727 others injured, mostly children and women, as well as the displacement of about 1.9 million people, and more than 10,000 missing persons, amid massive destruction of the health and educational infrastructure and famine that has claimed the lives of dozens of children, according to data from the United Nations organization.
