The renewed hostilities raise fears of wider bloodshed in the Middle East amid the ongoing US war with Iran and escalating attacks on regional shipping
Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they launched coordinated drone and ballistic missile attacks on several camps belonging to forces of the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government on Thursday. The flare-up follows four years of relative calm in the small Arab nation, which has been plagued by civil war since 2014 and sits at a strategic shipping chokepoint on the Red Sea.
The Houthis struck troops, depots, and camps in three provinces across central and eastern Yemen after detecting a buildup of Saudi-backed forces preparing for an offensive, the group’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said in a statement.
“The operation resulted in the death and injury of hundreds of Saudi enemy mercenaries,” he said, warning Riyadh against any further “escalation.” Government forces acknowledged that some of their soldiers had been killed or wounded but did not provide figures.
Reuters cited government sources as saying that at least 30 soldiers were killed.
Later on Thursday, the Houthis carried out strikes on Saudi Arabia’s southern Najran province, wounding 11 civilians, according to the kingdom’s military.
Why did the Houthis strike now?
The hostilities came amid mounting domestic pressures in Yemen, including a deteriorating economy, growing tribal discontent, and the humanitarian impact of the Saudi-led blockade imposed during the country’s 12-year civil war. They also coincided with rising regional tensions following the US-Israeli war against Iran, during which the Houthis declared their support for Tehran.
The Houthis previously fired missiles at Israel and targeted shipping in the Red Sea during Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, prompting US, UK, and Israeli airstrikes in Yemen. The Houthi attacks largely ceased after the group reached a ceasefire with the US in May 2025.
How the ceasefire unraveled
The Houthis have for months been seeking to establish direct flights between Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and Tehran despite opposition from the Saudi-backed government, which argued that the flights would violate the terms of the ceasefire.
On July 3, an Iranian Mahan Air plane landed in Sanaa for the first time in more than a decade to fly a Houthi delegation to the funeral of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the opening day of the US-Israeli attacks on Iran in late February.
However, when the same aircraft attempted to return on July 13, Saudi-backed forces struck the runway. The Houthis blamed Riyadh and declared the ceasefire over. A week later, the group announced a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia and has since claimed responsibility for attacks on eight Saudi-linked vessels.
Last week, the Saudi-led coalition carried out airstrikes on Houthi military sites in Yemen’s Hodeidah province, describing them as a response to the group’s attacks on commercial shipping. The rebels responded with attacks on Aramco facilities.
Why Red Sea shipping matters
The Red Sea and its southern entrance, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, have become even more important as an alternative shipping route because the Strait of Hormuz, which normally handles around a quarter of seaborne oil and LNG trade, remains largely closed due to the Iran war.
Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil exporter, has rerouted crude shipments away from the Strait of Hormuz to its Red Sea port of Yanbu, where loadings have averaged more than 4 million barrels per day since June – more than four times the level recorded during the same period last year, Reuters has reported, citing tanker-tracking data.
As oil and petroleum products account for more than three-quarters of Saudi Arabia’s exports, disruption to its crucial Red Sea export lifeline could be devastating for the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia prepares for war
Riyadh is preparing for a major military offensive by sea and potentially by land, The Guardian reported last week, citing Yemeni sources. Troop movements indicate that the Saudi-backed coalition is concentrating forces for a potential attack on the Houthi-controlled central governorate of Al Bayda, according to the report.
A Saudi official told CNN on Thursday night that the kingdom was preparing for “multiple coordinated attacks” by the Houthis and pro-Iranian Iraqi militias.
The escalation now threatens to reignite a conflict that had been largely dormant since 2022, when the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition agreed to a UN-mediated truce following years of civil war and a military intervention led by Riyadh. In the event of a major new offensive, Pakistan could potentially aid Saudi Arabia, with which it has a military cooperation agreement.
Since 2022, the Houthis have reinforced their defensive positions and expanded domestic drone and missile production, which Western officials say has been supported by substantial Iranian technological assistance.
Last month, Riyadh unveiled plans for a 14-nation maritime defense coalition aimed at protecting navigation in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden through intelligence sharing, joint exercises, and coordinated naval operations.
(RT.com)
