Saudi media outlets have revealed the dismantling of a large-scale Israeli Emirati espionage network and intelligence base on Yemen’s Socotra Island, following a technical and security operation led by Saudi authorities after the reduction of the Emirati presence and the withdrawal of its forces from the island.
According to published reports, the Israeli Emirati base had operated for many years under a civilian cover before its intelligence function was uncovered and the facility was fully neutralised.
Sources stated that the operation began with the arrival of Saudi Chinook transport helicopters at Socotra International Airport, carrying specialised technical teams focused on electronic warfare, monitoring, and surveillance.
The move was carried out under directives issued by the leadership of the Joint Forces Command, aiming to replace non-Yemeni crews who had been supervising surveillance systems at the airport and port, and to return these facilities to direct Yemeni Saudi administration.
Surveillance systems outside declared frameworks
Three officials familiar with an internal intelligence report said Saudi and Yemeni teams, with the participation of Egyptian experts, were surprised during inspections of surveillance systems in the Jabal Momi and Ras Qatninan areas to discover highly advanced equipment that was not listed among any systems authorised for use by the Arab Coalition.
It was also found that the operating software for these systems did not match that approved by defence ministries in Gulf states.
According to the report, the systems included remote sensing devices and advanced signal intelligence platforms capable of tracking the movement of ships and submarines across the depths of the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden.
These capabilities raised significant intelligence concerns, as their operation far exceeded the requirements of any declared civilian or environmental missions.
Israeli equipment under civilian cover
The Yemeni news outlet Yemen Monitor reported that technicians found technical labels linked to subsidiary companies contracted with ELTA Systems, an Israeli firm specialising in radar and electronic intelligence systems.
Inspection revealed that the equipment was operating under the guise of meteorological and environmental protection projects, while in reality it was connected to a central operations room located outside Yemen.
At Hawlaf Port, submerged sensors were also discovered, designed to detect the acoustic signatures of ships, a technology commonly used to track submarines and military naval vessels.
Sources confirmed that neither the Southern Transitional Council nor any local Yemeni authority possessed the technical capacity to operate or maintain such systems.
Severing external links
According to the leaks, the Joint Forces moved quickly to disable the systems by dismantling satellite communication units that were transmitting data directly to external centres.
Sources indicated that some data transmission routes passed through locations in Fujairah Port in the United Arab Emirates, in addition to an Emirati base in Somaliland.
These channels were completely shut down to prevent any continued data leakage.
The operation also included the seizure of data storage units and transmission devices, which were subjected to extensive technical examination to determine the volume of information collected over past years and the entities that had been receiving it.
An international surveillance platform beyond Yemeni sovereignty
The intelligence report indicates that these systems were used to monitor commercial and military shipping moving between East and West through the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, along vital routes linking China, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Gulf states. As a result, Socotra effectively became an international surveillance platform operating beyond the control of the Yemeni state.
Yemen Monitor quoted a former senior military source as saying that Socotra’s geographic location, at the intersection of the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean and near the Bab al Mandab Strait, grants whoever controls it exceptional ability to monitor international maritime traffic and gather highly sensitive intelligence, describing the island as a “natural aircraft carrier”.
These developments come amid earlier reports of Emirati attempts, in cooperation with Israel, to build intelligence and military bases in the Socotra archipelago and other Yemeni islands, particularly following the normalisation agreements between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv.
Those reports indicate that civilian and humanitarian cover was used to facilitate the entry of foreign equipment and experts onto the island.
On 2 January, Abu Dhabi announced the withdrawal of its remaining military and security units from Yemen, following a decision by Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council to cancel the joint defence agreement and demand the Emirati exit from the country. This was immediately followed by the launch of the Saudi operation to dismantle the intelligence infrastructure left behind after the withdrawal.
According to informed sources, the Saudi backed Yemeni government, in coordination with the Joint Forces, is working to rehabilitate Socotra as a sovereign zone under full Yemeni administration, while technically fortifying the island and preventing its reuse as a surveillance point or intelligence platform serving external actors.
In contrast, unconfirmed reports have spoken of Israeli attempts to relocate some of the dismantled equipment and expertise from Socotra to other sites in the Horn of Africa, specifically to the city of Berbera in Somaliland, reflecting the ongoing regional and international competition to control strategic maritime corridors in the region.
