The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees announced on Tuesday that at least 100,000 people have been displaced since the resumption of battles in Yemen between the Iran-backed Ansar Allah Houthi group and Saudi-backed government forces, during which the Houthis took control of the western coast of the country and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait region.
The Commission reported that "the rapid escalation of hostilities along the western coast of Yemen caused the displacement of more than 100,000 people inside the country, and pushed thousands of others to seek refuge in Djibouti, on the other side of the Bab al-Mandab Strait."
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia pledged to respond “firmly” to a new series of attacks launched by the Ansar Allah Houthi group in Yemen on its territory.
The Saudi Civil Defense reported, on Tuesday, that warnings had been issued “to warn of danger” in the governorates of Jeddah and Taif, and also in the city of Mecca for the first time since the outbreak of war in the Middle East, before they were quickly lifted, in light of the south of the kingdom being exposed to a series of attacks from the Houthis in Yemen.
On Monday, the Ansar Allah Houthi group in Yemen launched attacks targeting Saudi Arabia, with the Houthis accusing the Kingdom of launching more than 50 raids in the past 24 hours, while Tehran denied any role in this conflict, which was renewed in light of the war in the Middle East between Iran and the United States, according to Agence France-Presse.
In this context, the UN Security Council will hold a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the situation in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, according to diplomatic sources.
The Houthis announced on Monday that they launched dozens of missiles and drones at a military air base in Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia, targeting aircraft hangars, radar systems, runways and ammunition depots, in response to Saudi air strikes in Yemen.
The Saudi authorities issued emergency alerts in that region and in three other southern cities, and the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen reported that 13 civilians were injured in attacks launched by the Houthis, according to Reuters news agency.
In recent days, the group has achieved great progress at the expense of government forces supported by Riyadh in battles that resulted in the deaths of hundreds. It expanded its control as a result of a surprise attack in the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, which connects Europe to Asia, and took control of the entire western coast of Yemen overlooking the Red Sea.
In turn, Qatar warned on Tuesday that the Houthis' closure of the Bab al-Mandab Strait would be "disastrous for the entire world."
Director of the Media and Communications Department at the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ibrahim Al-Hashimi, said in a press briefing: “The world is suffering as a result of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and we cannot afford to add Bab al-Mandab to this equation,” stressing that “Qatar is striving for diplomacy and dialogue.”
In this context, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, during their meeting today in Cairo, discussed regional developments and ways to enhance cooperation between the two countries, according to the Egyptian presidency.
The presidency said that the two sides agreed that the security of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states is “part of Egyptian national security,” affirming “Egypt’s reservation, rejection, and complete condemnation of any attacks or threats” that affect the Kingdom’s sovereignty, stability, territorial integrity, or freedom of navigation in international sea lanes.
The Egyptian presidential spokesman said that Al-Sisi renewed “Egypt’s firm position in supporting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and all Arab countries in the face of the current regional circumstances,” pointing to the affirmation of the Egyptian-Saudi position keen to ensure the freedom and security of maritime navigation in the Straits of Hormuz, Bab al-Mandab, and the Red Sea.
Saudi Arabia has been leading a coalition that has been fighting the Houthis since 2015, but the conflict has declined to a large extent under a ceasefire over the past years, and fighting has renewed this month, as the Houthis pushed forces loyal to the internationally recognized government to retreat.
Exporting oil through the Red Sea has gained increasing importance for Saudi Arabia, the world's largest crude exporter, in light of Tehran's restriction of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, which hinders a large portion of exports from its fields located in the east.
Last week, Riyadh announced the suspension of work on the East-West pipeline to transport oil from the fields to the coast of the Red Sea, after a drone attack that it said came from Iraq.
During the recent period, the Houthis repeatedly announced targeting areas in Saudi Arabia, especially oil facilities in the south of the kingdom bordering Yemen, and on Monday they announced launching a rare attack with drones and missiles on the King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia.
Yahya Saree, the military spokesman for the Houthis, said in a post on X that the raids “targeted the governorates of Taiz, Lahj, Al-Jawf, Ma’rib and Hajjah,” threatening that “this brutal aggression will not go unpunished and responded.”
Two Yemeni military sources in Aden, where the internationally recognized government is based, reported that eight government soldiers were killed and others were injured as a result of Houthi missile attacks on sites between the Ma’rib and Al-Jawf governorates.
The Houthis' Al-Masirah channel reported attacks in the same area targeting reinforcements.
For her part, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday condemned the "continuous attacks" launched by "Iranian agents" in the Gulf region.
“We stand in solidarity with our partners in the Gulf in the face of the continuing attacks by Iranian proxies,” von der Leyen wrote on the X platform. “We are all concerned.”
On Monday, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied any involvement by Tehran in the ongoing war in Yemen.
Ismail Baghaei, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: “Iran does not interfere in Yemeni affairs,” stressing that the Houthis are “completely independent and make their decisions according to their own interests.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry added that Saudi Arabia requested, against the backdrop of the Yemeni developments, the postponement of the meeting dedicated to the Strait of Hormuz, which was scheduled to be held Monday in the Sultanate of Oman between Tehran and the Gulf states.
Baqai believes that “relying on the Yemeni issue as a reason for postponement is a weak excuse,” without providing additional details.
This comes as US President Donald Trump expressed, on Monday, his “openness” to holding talks with Iran.
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: “The failed Iranian nation wants to reach an agreement quickly and urgently. I will decide whether the United States chooses to engage in this or not, which is something we are open to.”
Since the outbreak of the war between Iran and the United States, Saudi crude oil exports from the port of Yanbu overlooking the Red Sea have risen to an average of 3.8 million barrels per day in the period between March and July, equivalent to about five times their pre-war levels, according to data from Kpler, a company specializing in commodity trade data.
