Saudi-led Coalition Strikes Houthi Positions in Hodeidah as Yemen Government Launches Major Offensive

The Saudi-led coalition conducted more than 1,000 strikes in support of a major offensive launched by Yemen's internationally recognized government against Houthi positions, destroying weapons depots, naval mines and explosive-laden boat facilities in Hodeidah as part of Operation Dawn of Yemen. [1] [4]

Government Launches Counter-Offensive

Yemen's government announced a broad counter-offensive on Sunday aimed at recapturing all territory lost to the Iran-backed Houthis, who recently seized Red Sea coastline and encircled Taiz. [4] [5] The military said it carried out more than 1,000 strikes while 100 warplanes attacked at dawn, according to the Saudi-led coalition that supports Yemen's government. [4] Yemen's government announced the lofty goal of retaking all Houthi territory on Sunday. [4] Last month the Houthis seized swathes of coastline along the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab strait. [4] The Houthi statement came hours after Yemen's government announced the start of what it called the "battle of liberation," marking a new phase in its campaign to retake Houthi-held territory. [5]

Coalition Air Campaign Intensifies

Forces of Yemen's internationally recognized government began a major offensive Monday against the Iranian-backed Houthis rebels on the country's Red Sea coast, under an intensified air campaign by the Saudi-led coalition. [2] The offensive came just after the rebels said they had seized territory. [2] Saudi-led coalition in Yemen hits Houthi positions in Hodeidah. [1] Weapons depots, naval mines, and storage facilities for explosive-laden boats belonging to Houthis destroyed during operation, says coalition spokesman. [1] Yemen's military, backed by Saudi jets, attacked Houthi targets on Monday as it launched an ambitious campaign to recapture all territory from the Iran-backed group. [4] The military said it carried out more than 1,000 strikes, while 100 warplanes attacked at dawn, according to the Saudi-led coalition that supports Yemen's government. [4] Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki said 100 jets flew at daybreak as part of "Operation 'Dawn of Yemen'". [4] They provided "round-the-clock air support for the Yemeni armed forces on the ground," he wrote on X. [4]

Saudi-led coalition warplanes strike Houthi positions in Hodeidah during Operation Dawn of Yemen. — Source: newsmax

Houthi Reports of Strikes Received

Yemen's Houthi group said Sunday that Saudi Arabia had launched 106 air and missile strikes across Houthi-held areas over the past 24 hours. [5] Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said on social media platform X that the Saudi attacks hit the capital Sanaa and provinces including Al-Jawf and Taiz. [5] Sarea said the latest attacks brought the number of Saudi air and missile strikes since the current escalation began to 1,516. [5] The figures could not be independently verified, and Saudi Arabia has not confirmed carrying out the strikes reported by the Houthis. [5] The developments came as Yemen's conflict entered one of its sharpest escalations in years, with heavy fighting spreading across southwestern Yemen and renewed missile, drone and air attacks reviving direct hostilities between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia. [5]

Developments on the Ground in Taiz

On Sunday, the group effectively encircled the key city of Taiz after cutting the main supply route linking the city to the interim government capital of Aden. [4] However, Taiz residents remained defiant, vowing to stay and defend their city. [4] "We cannot leave the city. It is impossible for us to leave. We will stay and die inside this city," Fahmi Ahmed Ghaleb told AFP. [4] "Throughout the earlier clashes with the Houthis, we also stayed inside the city." [4] Taiz city remains under the control of government forces but has long been encircled from the north, east and west by Houthi fighters and remains one of the main fronts in Yemen's war. [4] The Houthis' surrounding of Taiz "is a significant development, but I think it is still too early to say that we are witnessing a decisive turning point", Ahmed Nagi, a senior analyst for Yemen at the International Crisis Group, told AFP. [4]

Yemeni government forces launch counter-offensive against Houthi positions in Hodeidah. — Source: france24

Broader Conflict Context

Yemen's conflict began in late 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government. [5] The Houthis took control of Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in September 2014, forcing out the internationally recognised government. [4] They hold much of Yemen, including its most populous areas. [4] The Saudi-led international military coalition intervened in March 2015. [4] The ensuing civil war caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and a spiralling humanitarian crisis that left a majority of the population relying on aid. [4] The Houthis launched a rapid offensive around the Red Sea coast in September that killed hundreds of combatants on both sides and, according to UN figures, displaced more than 145,000 people. [4] While the war in Yemen predates the Middle East war that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, it has become the most active front in the wider conflict in recent weeks. [4]

Humanitarian and Energy Impact

The long-running conflict in Yemen, one of the world's poorest countries and neighbour of Saudi Arabia, has flared anew months into the Middle East war that has sent crude prices soaring. [4] As the offensive began, a source in the Saudi energy sector told AFP that an attack on Sunday had again halted pumping in the East-West pipeline to the Red Sea, a key conduit since Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz. [4] Saudi Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser warned on Monday that global oil stockpiles are "scarily thin" owing to the US-Iran war, days after G7 nations agreed to release more of their inventories to ease supply concerns. [4] "The system is already straining," Nasser told the Energy Intelligence Forum in London. [4] "And with precious little else the world can turn to, the supply resilience cushion is scarily thin." [4] The Houthis have targeted Saudi oil infrastructure and tankers in the Red Sea since a ceasefire in Yemen's civil war unravelled in July. [4] The group has accused the Saudi-led coalition of carrying out hundreds of strikes. [4]

What to watch next: The strikes have yet to blunt ongoing Houthi advances on the ground, with analysts noting it remains too early to determine whether recent developments mark a decisive turning point in the conflict.