Clashes between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and government forces in Yemen raged overnight and into Thursday, raising fears that the country’s civil war could reignite. According to Yemeni military officials speaking to Apnews, at least one government soldier was killed and another critically wounded in the mountainous province of Taiz. The fighting forms part of a recent spate of Houthi attacks on government-held areas across the country, with dozens of government troops killed since the previous week.
Yemeni Forces Clash With Houthi Rebels as U.N. Warns of Full-Scale War
During a video briefing on Thursday, U.N. special envoy Hans Grundberg told the U.N. Security Council that Yemen is at greater risk of returning to large-scale conflict than at any time since a 2022 truce paused the fighting. Grundberg noted that military activity had intensified along frontlines in regions including Marib, Hadramawt, and Mocha, causing military and civilian casualties.
The conflict in Yemen dates back to 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention the following year. Although the 2022 U.N.-brokered truce largely halted major fighting despite expiring six months later, regional tensions have intensified efforts to reach a lasting political settlement.
Humanitarian Crisis and Detention Concerns at the United Nations
Alongside the security deterioration, U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher warned the council that Yemen faces a catastrophe from rising hunger and crumbling health services amid the fighting. Fletcher stated that more than half the country’s population faces acute food insecurity, with 6 million people experiencing emergency levels of food deprivation bordering on famine, which he described as the highest number globally.
Both Grundberg and Fletcher called for the release of 73 U.N. personnel detained by the Houthis, alongside workers from non-governmental organizations, civil society, and diplomatic missions. Grundberg added that preparations to free more than 1,600 conflict-related detainees, an agreement reached in May, were moving slowly and risked being derailed by the broader escalation.
Meanwhile, Yemeni Nobel peace laureate Tawakkol Karman addressed reporters outside the Security Council chamber, stating that Houthi rebels bear primary responsibility for the collapse of the state in Yemen. The human rights campaigner also criticized Iran for backing the Houthis, blamed Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for their military interventions, and faulted the international community. Karman had been invited to brief the Security Council as an independent civil society voice, but Danish Deputy Ambassador Sandra Jensen Landi stated that she was blocked from speaking due to strong opposition.
Regional Spillovers Involve Saudi Refineries and Maritime Shipping
The domestic escalation in Yemen coincides with broader regional tensions involving Houthi actions and maritime trade routes. The Houthis stated they launched another drone attack on an Aramco oil refinery in the Saudi city of Jazan. Saudi officials did not immediately comment on the reported attack, though the Saudi Energy Ministry had previously reported a fire without casualties following a weekend drone attack on the facility. On July 20, the Houthis announced a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea in response to what they termed a Saudi siege of Yemen, a claim denied by Riyadh. In response, a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes against Houthi military facilities in Hodeidah linked to shipping threats.
Grundberg warned that renewed Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden risk drawing Yemen further into a wider regional confrontation. Regional trade and energy flows are already pressured by crises in the Strait of Hormuz, where control is contested amid ongoing military actions involving the U.S. and Israel against Iran. Iran reported that it is working to clean up an oil spill off Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, where images from the semiofficial news agency ISNA showed oil fouling beaches. While Iran has not specified the cause of the spill, the tracking firm TankerTrackers.com indicated it appeared to originate from an Iranian attack on a bulk carrier off Oman.
