Refugees in Yemen live in makeshift tents amid dire conditions resulting from the Yemeni Civil War, on July 5, 2023. The recent revival of Yemen’s civil war will have tragic humanitarian consequences, writes Alexander Langlois. (Shutterstock/Mohammed Bash)

With the Return of War in Yemen, a Humanitarian Disaster Looms

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Despite recent Houthi territorial gains, the revived Yemeni Civil War is still likely to drag on inconclusively without international mediation efforts.

Yemen’s civil war has reignited, with disastrous effects. With major Houthi (Ansar Allah) military advances and the subsequent pro-government counterattack amid increasing Saudi strikes and efforts to widen the war, the diplomatic track increasingly appears to be dead. Dying with it is any effort to protect Yemeni civilians from the humanitarian impacts, once again proving that their safety and needs are ignored by those fighting for pure power in the country’s long conflict.

The Houthi-led military offensive along Yemen’s coast swept through frontlines that had largely held since 2022, when a UN-facilitated truce ended the fighting. The group routed Tareq Saleh’s National Resistance Forces, loosely aligned with the Internationally Recognized Government of Yemen (IRG), from positions they held well before the truce. In succeeding on this front, the Houthis gained near-total control of the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean. 

The objective is clear: pressure Saudi Arabia into offering concessions on issues that have long defined the conflict and prevented its resolution. First and foremost is an end to Riyadh’s land, sea, and air blockade of Houthi territory. However, the Houthis will likely demand additional concessions that increase the group’s power relative to the IRG in any future talks, including frozen IRG payments to government workers in Houthi-held territory and, eventually, a request that Riyadh end support for the IRG altogether. 

Saudi oil exports remain the........

© The National Interest