HODEIDA, Yemen – Firefighting teams were struggling on July 22 to contain a massive blaze at Yemen’s Hodeida port, days after a deadly Israeli strike hit oil tanks and a power plant in the rebel-run harbour.

Heavy flames and black smoke were seen spiralling into the sky for a third consecutive day following the strike on July 20, said an AFP correspondent in Hodeida.

Firefighting teams appear to have made little progress, with the blaze seemingly expanding in some parts of the port, the correspondent said, amid fears it could reach food storage facilities.

High-resolution satellite images taken by Maxar Technologies showed flames consuming a heavily damaged fuel storage area at the Hodeida harbour.

The fuel depot is run by Yemen Petroleum Company, which said late on July 21 that the six people killed in the Israel strike were its employees.

The Houthis say more than 80 others were wounded in the attack, many of them with severe burns.

With black smoke billowing overhead, a funeral ceremony was held on July 22 for the victims of the strikes.

Their coffins were carried through the streets of Hodeida, flanked by crowds and led by a Houthi marching band.

The strike on July 20 was the first by Israel on the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country and came in response to a Houthi drone strike that breached Israel’s air defences, killing one person in Tel Aviv the day before.

The Houthis, who are fighting Israel as part of a regional network of Iran-backed groups, have pledged a “huge” response to the strikes and threatened to once again attack Tel Aviv.

Yemeni port authorities said Hodeida “is operating at its full capacity”, according to the rebels’ Saba news agency.

“We are working around the clock to receive all ships, and there is no concern abou...