{"id":541929,"date":"2026-07-15T01:45:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T01:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/541929\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T01:45:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T01:45:14","slug":"why-yemens-long-no-war-no-peace-deadlock-may-be-ending-conflict-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/541929\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Yemen\u2019s long \u2018no war, no peace\u2019 deadlock may be ending | Conflict News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sanaa, Yemen \u2013 Both Yemen\u2019s internationally recognised government and the Houthi rebel group began mobilising fighters in late June. Then, on July 3, the first publicly announced flight between Tehran and Sanaa for more than a decade landed in the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital, creating new tensions. Fighting during the next day between the two sides in western Yemen\u2019s Hodeidah governorate killed dozens<\/a>, the worst violence in four years.<\/p>\n

And then, on Monday, the attempted landing of another flight from Tehran in Sanaa led to the bombing of the airport\u2019s runway<\/a> by the Yemeni government, and the firing of Houthi ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

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Yemen\u2019s Defence Minister Taher al-Aqili said that the government\u2019s \u201cpatience has run out\u201d. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said that the \u201cde-escalation phase\u201d of Yemen\u2019s war was over.<\/p>\n

Yemen\u2019s war, now more than 10 years old, had been cold since a truce was agreed in 2022. But, with the Houthis\u2019 main ally Iran fighting the US and bombing the Gulf, the conflict in the Middle East\u2019s poorest country may be about to reignite, plunging Yemen back into large-scale war.<\/p>\n

Regional threats<\/p>\n

The Houthis have blamed Saudi Arabia for the attack on Sanaa airport, despite the Yemeni government\u2019s claim that it was responsible.<\/p>\n

Salah Ali Salah, a researcher at the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies, described the recent rhetoric from the Houthis as \u201cstriking\u201d, and pointed out that the consequences of their actions will not be limited to the front lines in Yemen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Houthis have openly rejected the continuation of the \u2018no war, no peace\u2019 status quo while simultaneously expanding campaigns to mobilise fighters and the broader population,\u201d Salah told Al Jazeera. \u201cThis rhetoric is not solely intended to augment internal mobilisation or contain the growing social and economic pressures that have grown during prolonged periods of relative calm on the front lines. Rather, it appears to be preparing the political and propaganda landscape for another phase of war that could have repercussions on the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

The war between Iran and the US has demonstrated the problems spillover from regional conflicts can have on Gulf security. And as Iran attacks the Gulf from the east, the fear is that the Houthis will attack from the south \u2013 as they have done in the past, during the height of the Yemen war<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Houthis possess both the geographic position and the military capabilities to make them one of the most consequential actors capable of exerting pressure on Gulf states or disrupting maritime traffic in the Red Sea,\u201d Salah said.<\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean it is certain, and there would be consequences for the Houthis. They have already come under heavy attack over the past few years from Israel, the United Kingdom, and the United States, after it launched strikes disrupting shipping in the Red Sea following the beginning of Israel\u2019s genocidal war on Gaza.<\/p>\n

Those attacks have been punishing for the Houthis, and for the Yemenis in the areas of northwest Yemen under their control. They would have to justify any move towards war, or risk unrest from the populace.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom this perspective, the Houthi renewed focus on Saudi Arabia [and] the blockade [of Sanaa Airport] \u2026 can be interpreted as an attempt to reconstruct a local narrative that portrays any future escalation with the Gulf as an extension of the Yemeni conflict, rather than simply a reflection of regional tensions or the interests of the Houthis\u2019 allies [Iran and Hezbollah],\u201d Salah said.<\/p>\n

With the continuing mobilisation and pro-war discourse, Salah said that the Houthis are rearranging their priorities, working to redefine the \u201cnext enemy\u201d and preparing public opinion for the possibility of a new escalation.<\/p>\n

Truce to war?<\/p>\n

While the years since 2022 have brought relative calm to areas under Houthi control, and even the opening of Sanaa International Airport to civilian travel for a period, the lack of conflict with the government and the Saudi-led coalition has made it more difficult for the Houthis to blame external parties for the economic difficulties areas under the group\u2019s control are going through.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Yemeni government \u2013 with the backing of Saudi Arabia \u2013 has been able to consolidate some control in eastern and southern Yemen after its opponents within the anti-Houthi coalition, the separatist Southern Transitional Council, were defeated at the end of last year.<\/p>\n

That has allowed the Yemeni government to turn its attention towards the Houthis. The beginning of the US war with Iran led to predictions of support from Washington for a government advance on the Houthis in Yemen, but a Gulf desire to ease tensions and de-escalate with Iran made that less likely.<\/p>\n

Still, the Houthis and the Yemeni government may decide that an eventual return to war is inevitable, and each side may prefer to start such a conflict at a time of their choosing, rather than be forced into it.<\/p>\n

Years of faltering diplomatic negotiations between the Houthis and the Yemeni government, as well as Saudi Arabia, have meant that a coming military battle cannot be ruled out, said Yemeni analyst Adel Dashela.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould the Houthi group continue to reject the peace proposals, the military option remains on the table, though its implementation is largely contingent on the Saudi position,\u201d Dashela told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

Four years from the truce that paused Yemen\u2019s war, trust has not been built. Deals have been on the table, with a United Nations roadmap in late 2023 including funding for all public sector salaries, an end to restrictions on roads and airports, and the resumption of oil exports \u2013 all eventually leading to a political process that would end the war.<\/p>\n

No deal was ever struck. And now all sides seem to be escalating their rhetoric, as well as their actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndications suggest that Riyadh is becoming less tolerant of the Houthis\u2019 stalling tactics, which makes a renewed battle a possible scenario unless a political breakthrough occurs,\u201d Dashela said.<\/p>\n

The Yemeni government has also sought to emphasise the Houthis\u2019 links to Iran, with military spokesperson Abdo Majali saying that the July 3 flight from Iran to Sanaa was evidence that Tehran continues to use the Houthis as a \u201ctool to implement its expansionist project in the region and undermine the sovereignty of the Yemeni state\u201d.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a leading Houthi official, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, threatened Saudi Arabia in comments made to Al Jazeera<\/a> following the strikes on Sanaa airport. \u201cTheir willingness to attack Sanaa airport to prevent flights from arriving or departing gives Yemen the right to strike their airports and to impose on them a siege just as they have done to us,\u201d al-Bukhaiti said.<\/p>\n

Frustration with deadlock<\/p>\n

In Sanaa, the Houthis have been working to mobilise thousands of fighters for whatever battles may be about to take place.<\/p>\n

Ali Mohammed, a member of the Houthis\u2019 popular committees, said thousands of fighters were ready to take part should battles erupt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese fighters are true believers in the [Houthi] leadership, and they will implement any fighting instructions they receive,\u201d Mohammed said.<\/p>\n

Recently recruited fighters, he said, have received training on fighting on the front lines, and \u201cthey will be an indispensable backup to the [main Houthi] armed forces\u201d.<\/p>\n

Thousands of Yemenis have died in the country\u2019s war, both from the fighting and from the accompanying famine and disease.<\/p>\n

About 18.3 million people face acute food insecurity, placing Yemen among the most food\u2011insecure countries globally, according to UN reports. More than 2.2 million children under five are acutely malnourished, and approximately 2.6 million children do not go to school. The country\u2019s GDP per person has fallen 58 percent since the war started, and ultimately civilians on both sides of the country\u2019s divide are suffering.<\/p>\n

The sense of limbo many Yemenis have felt over the past few years, and the failure of negotiations to bring an end to the war, has some hoping for some sort of conclusion.<\/p>\n

For Abdullah, a government school teacher in Sanaa, the identity of the victor of the conflict doesn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe side that will win the coming war should be responsible for improving the livelihood of people, fixing the economic ordeal and stabilising the country,\u201d Abdullah told Al Jazeera. \u201cIt needs to be swift and decisive, ending with one winner.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sanaa, Yemen \u2013 Both Yemen\u2019s internationally recognised government and the Houthi rebel group began mobilising fighters in late…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1153,2664,42,47,43,78,40,38,41,39,162198,2893],"class_list":["post-541929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-conflict","tag-features","tag-headlines","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-us-israel-war-on-iran","tag-yemen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}