Yemen is closer to renewed all-out war than at any point since the 2022 truce, UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg told the UN Security Council after military activity intensified across the country’s frozen front lines.
Fighting has caused military and civilian casualties in recent days, with clashes reported between the Iran-aligned Houthi group and forces of Yemen’s internationally recognised, Aden-based government in Marib, Hadramout, al-Makha, Taiz and elsewhere.
Fighting spreads across several front lines
The internationally recognised government said its forces repelled a Houthi attack on Taiz. It also reported artillery and drone attacks against Houthi forces across several governorates. The head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council said every Houthi action would receive “a comprehensive response or deterrence”.
Grundberg called on both sides to immediately de-escalate and work towards a robust ceasefire. He warned that renewed Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea could draw Yemen into the wider confrontation between the United States and Iran.
Related coverage: Yemen says Houthi attack on Tihamah killed six.
How the 2022 truce gave way to renewed danger
The Houthis seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention the following year and a prolonged civil war. The Houthis and the internationally recognised government reached a truce in 2022 that had largely held until the recent escalation.
Efforts to reach a lasting agreement stalled in 2023 as tensions across the wider region increased, according to Grundberg. The latest clashes now threaten to undermine the relative calm that followed the truce.
Humanitarian pressure and economic priorities
The intensifying conflict is worsening an already severe humanitarian crisis. More than half of Yemen’s population lacks reliable access to enough food, while six million people face emergency levels of deprivation bordering on famine, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told the Security Council.
More context: New Houthi missile and drone attacks hit al-Makha.
Fletcher said women are particularly affected, with three dying every day from preventable pregnancy-related complications. Grundberg urged the warring parties to pursue economic de-escalation by keeping commercial vessels reaching Yemeni ports, resuming oil exports and restarting commercial flights to and from Houthi-held Sanaa airport.
Cross-border attacks raise wider regional risks
The Houthis claimed responsibility for a drone attack on an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia’s Jazan province. A Houthi military source said the attack responded to what the group described as Saudi violations of Yemeni airspace and sovereignty in Saada and Hajjah provinces.
The refinery attack followed exchanges of drone, air and missile attacks since the Houthis declared a blockade on Saudi shipping in the Red Sea on July 20. The British government blamed the Houthis for worsening the humanitarian crisis and criticised attacks on international shipping and direct attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Also read: Libya’s Zawiya refinery faces shutdown warning after drone attacks.
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