The latest decisions by Yemen's de facto government, the Iran-backed Houthi militia, seem to indicate the Houthis are on a zigzag course.

Last Thursday, the Houthis kidnapped 7 UN employees in the country's capital Sanaa.

On Friday, the militia released the 25-member crew of the Galaxy Leader, a merchant ship they had seized in November 2023.

On Saturday, the Houthis also let 153 prisoners of war go, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"This step comes in support of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza," the rebel-controlled SABA news agency quoted the Houthi leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.

However, as of now, the Houthis, who are also known as Ansar Allah, have yet to state why they kidnapped those 7 UN employees.

"The Houthis picked up the UN staff because they are more valuable for negotiating a deal," Abdulghani Al-Iryani, senior researcher at the Yemeni think tank Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies, said to DW.

Hisham Omeisy, a Yemeni conflict analyst based in Washington, also believes that the Houthis needed new assets for negotiations.

"With the impending Foreign Terrorist Organization designation and a further squeeze on their resources, they need to play their hands and do what they always do best, which is basically hostage taking and use of force," Omeisy told DW.

Within hours after his inauguration on January 20, US President Donald Trump had signed a decree that re-designated the Houthis a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) over their attacks on Red Sea shipping and Israel.

The

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