The Houthi group has dramatically expanded its military and territorial reach in Yemen, seizing a strategic coastal area and Mayyun Island in the Bab al-Mandab Strait as attacks deep inside Saudi Arabia signal a dangerous new phase in the regional conflict.
The developments come years after a United Nations-brokered truce between Yemen's government and Ansar Allah, commonly known as the Houthis, came into effect on April 2, 2022.
The agreement halted offensive military operations by land, sea and air inside Yemen and across its borders, while also allowing fuel and petroleum-product vessels to enter the ports of Hodeidah.
However, the relative calm did not resolve Yemen's political and military divisions. Security developments continued in several parts of the country, while shifts in southern Yemen altered the balance of power and left Saudi Arabia with significant influence over the internationally recognised government's decision-making.
The truce later faded as military exchanges between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia intensified. On Tuesday, the Houthis launched attacks on four cities in southern Saudi Arabia, injuring more than 70 people and causing fires at oil facilities in what appeared to be a major expansion of the conflict.
According to Reuters, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen's densely populated areas, including the capital Sanaa, said they had launched a large-scale operation deep inside Saudi territory.
The group used drones and missiles to target a Saudi air base in Khamis Mushait, facilities belonging to state-owned oil giant Aramco in nearby Abha, Najran along the Yemeni border and Jazan, a key Red Sea coastal city with a major refinery and power plant.
Satellite images reviewed by Reuters later showed smoke rising near Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline, although Riyadh did not confirm an incident and Aramco did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The conflict took another dramatic turn after the Houthis seized territory around the strategically vital Bab al-Mandab Strait. A Yemeni government source told Agence France-Presse that the Iran-backed group had taken full control of the western coast, while officials said boats carrying armed Houthi fighters reached Perim, also known as Mayyun Island, after government forces withdrew.
Mayyun Island sits in the middle of the Bab al-Mandab Strait and divides the strategic waterway into two shipping lanes. “The Houthis have completed their control of the Bab al-Mandab area and Mayyun Island, located in the middle of the strait,” an official said.
The seizure has raised fresh concerns over maritime security in one of the world's most strategically important waterways.
Meanwhile, Axios reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held two telephone conversations with US President Donald Trump on Thursday, urging Washington to launch strikes against the Houthis. Trump reportedly rejected the request, with US officials saying the administration does not currently intend to take direct military action against the group.
Washington is instead said to be increasing support for Saudi Arabia while attempting to avoid opening another military front as its attention remains focused on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.
The rapid expansion of the Houthis has also reignited criticism of Saudi Arabia's management of the Yemen conflict. Yemeni researcher Yaqoub al-Sufyani argued that major battlefield gains against the Houthis had previously depended heavily on effective local forces supported by the United Arab Emirates. “The UAE went from being the most important military partner on the ground to an adversary in the calculations of some Yemeni forces,” he said.
He added that Saudi Arabia had lost “a regional ally with direct experience on the Yemeni battlefield, as well as local forces that had demonstrated their ability to fight on the ground.”
Political analyst Abdul Qader Abu al-Laym similarly said: “There is no escaping the recognition that the UAE was the most sincere, the most organized, and the most experienced.”
Yemeni media figure Nora al-Jarwi, however, delivered some of the strongest criticism, arguing that Saudi Arabia's strategy in Yemen had failed.
“With Iranian support, the Houthis are the ones who have taken control of Yemen’s western coast,” she said, warning that Tehran's influence now stretched “from the Strait of Hormuz to Bab al-Mandab.”
She added: “Saudi Arabia must acknowledge that its policy in Yemen has failed, and that this failure has caused humanitarian, political, and military disasters for which Yemenis have paid with their blood and their future.”
Her message to Riyadh was even more direct: “Enough meddling in Yemen. Yemeni blood is not cheap, and Yemen’s sovereignty is not a bargaining chip. Saudi Arabia must end its tutelage and leave Yemen to the Yemenis.”
