While Yemen’s Houthi movement is urging everyone to accept a peace process, Saudi Arabia is looking to further step up the war, launching a new operation against the area around Hodeidah, which is supposed to be off-limits under a previously agreed-to truce.
The home of north Yemen’s last major port, Hodeidah is where materially
all humanitarian aid enters north Yemen, and is how 70% of all food
enters the country. The existing truce was meant to prevent harm to the
port, and keep aid flowing.
This is the first major Saudi attack in Yemen since last weekend’s
Houthi drone strike against Saudi oil refineries. The Saudis never
acknowledged the Houthis were behind this, and rather blamed Iran.
The Houthis warned the new attacks mark a serious escalation and could
pose a major threat to the existing truce. There has been no comment
from other parties to the deal, though the Saudis claimed the Houthis
used the area for remote-controlled boats.
Saudis Launch New Offensive Against Yemen’s Hodeidah
Houthis warn attack marks serious escalation
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
Join the Discussion!
We welcome thoughtful and respectful comments. Hateful language, illegal content, or attacks against Antiwar.com will be removed.
For more details, please see our Comment Policy.
