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Yemen
Nation / PlaceYE

Yemen

Arabian Peninsula state divided since 2014; Houthi-controlled north controls the Bab al-Mandeb strait.

Yemen's Houthi movement escalated its own blockade through late July 2026, declaring the Bab al-Mandeb strait closed to Saudi-linked shipping on 20 July, striking tankers and Aramco's Jazan refinery by 24 July, before Riyadh answered with air strikes at Hodeidah.

Last refreshed: 20 August 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic

Key Question

The world's worst humanitarian crisis sits on the world's second most important oil chokepoint. Now Ansar Allah is firing at Israel.

Timeline for Yemen

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Background

Yemen is the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula and has been divided since Ansar Allah, the Houthi movement, seized the capital Sanaa in 2014. A Saudi-led Coalition intervened in 2015, and the resulting civil war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and produced what aid agencies describe as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. A fragile Ceasefire since 2022 has let Ansar Allah consolidate control of the north, while the internationally recognised government, the Presidential Leadership Council under Rashad al-Alimi, governs from the southern port city of Aden.

Yemen's enduring strategic weight comes from its geography rather than its economy: the country controls the eastern shore of the Bab al-Mandeb strait, through which roughly a tenth of global trade passes every day. Ansar Allah's 2023-25 campaign against Red Sea shipping halved traffic through the strait and triggered the largest naval escort operation since the Cold War, a demonstration of how a materially poor and internally divided state can still hold a share of world trade at risk. The event record includes and .

Key Issues
Red Sea blockade

Houthi forces close a second strait

Yemen's Houthi movement, Ansar Allah, declared the Bab al-Mandeb strait shut to Saudi-linked shipping on 20 July using open radio warnings alone; six vessels, among them the Chinese tanker Xin Long Yang, changed course within 48 hours with no shot fired. Roughly a quarter of world container traffic passes this strait, giving Ansar Allah's broadcasts the same practical hold over shipping that a naval blockade would once have taken far more force to achieve.

The Houthis escalated through the following week, striking the tankers Encelia and Layla on 22-23 July, hitting the NCC Masa on 24 July and setting fire to Aramco's Jazan refinery the same day, cutting Saudi Bab al-Mandeb loadings by more than a third. Saudi Arabia answered with air strikes on Houthi positions near Hodeidah, though the port itself stayed open to shipping.

Red Sea front

Yemen opened a second war front

Yemen returned to the centre of the Iran conflict on 28 March 2026, when the Houthis fired ballistic missiles at Israel for the first time since the war began, ending a month of self-imposed restraint.

The Houthis escalated again on 8 June, banning Israeli-linked shipping from the Red Sea entirely and striking the Jaffa area, their first hit on Israeli territory since an earlier Ceasefire. That move turned Yemen's own Bab al-Mandeb chokepoint into a second maritime front running alongside the Strait of Hormuz, forcing Israeli-linked cargo to detour around both peninsulas.

Common Questions

Houthi forces close a second strait

Why did Saudi Arabia blockade Yemeni ports?
By 20 July 2026 Saudi Arabia had imposed a blockade on Yemeni ports and struck Sanaa International Airport, an attack the Houthis say targeted an Iranian aircraft carrying their leadership home from Ali Khamenei's funeral.Source: Lowdown reporting

Yemen opened a second war front

What is the Bab al-Mandeb strait and why does it matter?
Bab al-Mandeb is a narrow strait between Yemen and Djibouti connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Around 10% of global trade and 4.5 million barrels of oil pass through it daily. Yemen controls the eastern shore; a Houthi closure compounds any Strait of Hormuz disruption by threatening two of the world's three critical oil chokepoints simultaneously.Source: Lowdown

Reference

Which Yemeni government represents Yemen internationally?
The internationally recognised Presidential Leadership Council, chaired by Rashad al-Alimi and based in Aden, holds Yemen's seat at bodies like CENTCOM's regional dialogues, not the Houthi-controlled administration in Sanaa.Source: Lowdown
How many people died in the Yemen war?
The UN estimated over 377,000 deaths by end of 2021, the majority from indirect causes: famine, disease, and collapsed healthcare. Casualties continued after the 2022 Ceasefire at a lower level.Source: UN OCHA
Where is Yemen?
The southernmost country on the Arabian Peninsula, bordered by Saudi Arabia and Oman. Its western coast faces the Red Sea; the Bab al-Mandeb strait separates it from Djibouti and the Horn of Africa.
Was a ship attacked off Yemen's coast in August 2026?
Yes. UKMTO reported through Anadolu Agency that a cargo ship off Yemen's west coast was hit by multiple projectiles on 19 August 2026 and assessed a constructive total loss. UKMTO named no attacker, vessel, cargo or casualty figure.Source: UKMTO / Anadolu Agency
Why are the Houthis attacking Israel?
Ansar Allah frames its attacks on Israel as solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and alignment with Iran's axis of resistance. The movement fired on Israel from 28 March 2026 after a month of restraint, and declared a full Red Sea ban on Israeli maritime traffic on 8 June 2026 following the Islamabad memorandum.Source: Lowdown
What happened between Saudi Arabia and the UAE at Mukalla?
On 29 December 2025, Saudi Arabia struck a UAE weapons convoy at Mukalla port in Yemen's Hadhramaut Governorate, the first kinetic exchange between nominal GCC allies in the bloc's history. The episode contributed to the UAE's formal exit from OPEC in May 2026.Source: Lowdown
Who controls Yemen in 2026?
Ansar Allah (the Houthis) controls Sanaa and most of northern and western Yemen since 2014. A Saudi-led Coalition and the internationally recognised government hold parts of the south, though the Ceasefire since 2022 has Left Ansar Allah as the dominant military force across the country.Source: Lowdown
Is Yemen still at war in 2026?
Yes. Despite a Ceasefire since 2022, Ansar Allah (the Houthis) continued Red Sea attacks and re-entered the 2026 Iran-Israel conflict on 28 March. Saudi Arabia struck a UAE convoy in Yemeni territory in December 2025, demonstrating ongoing proxy competition.Source: editorial
Why is Yemen important in the Iran war?
Yemen's Ansar Allah movement fired ballistic missiles at Israel on 28 March 2026, raising the prospect of Bab al-Mandeb being closed simultaneously with Iran's Hormuz blockade. Yemen also hosts Mukalla port, where Saudi Arabia struck a UAE convoy in December 2025.Source: editorial
How bad is the humanitarian crisis in Yemen?
Yemen's civil war since 2015 has killed hundreds of thousands and produced what humanitarian agencies describe as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. OCHA is running simultaneous contingency operations across Yemen, Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, and Syria simultaneously, with Yemen as the baseline worst case.Source: Lowdown
How does Bab al-Mandeb compare to the Strait of Hormuz?
Both are critical oil chokepoints. Hormuz (controlled by Iran) handles 21% of global oil. Bab al-Mandeb (threatened by Yemen's Ansar Allah) handles 10% of global trade. In March 2026, both are under simultaneous threat for the first time.
What happened to the Southern Transitional Council in Yemen?
The UAE-backed STC seized Aden and most of southern Yemen in a December 2025 offensive, then lost it within weeks to Saudi-backed government forces, who retook Aden by 7 January 2026 and removed STC ministers from the Presidential Leadership Council.Source: Lowdown
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