Almost three years post the Houthis gained global media attention for assaulting commercial vessels near Yemen, the rebels have amplified their violent control in the Middle East. Here is a guide on the group that has been a constant challenge for Israel, Saudi Arabia, the U.S., and international maritime routes, with potential impacts on global oil prices.
The Houthis are a faction involved in a Yemeni civil conflict that claimed over 100,000 lives before a fragile truce in 2022. On the opposing side stood the internationally acknowledged government supported by a Saudi-led coalition. Originating in the 1990s, the Houthi movement emerged when the Houthi family in northern Yemen established a revivalist movement for the Zaydi sect of Shia Islam. This sect historically governed Yemen for around a millennium until its northern heartland suffered impoverishment and marginalization post its end in 1962.
The Yemeni civil war erupted in 2014 when the Houthis rebelled against the government and seized control of the capital, Sanaa. By early 2015, Saudi Arabia, along with other Gulf nations and U.S. backing, commenced airstrikes against the Houthis, who receive support from Iran. This proxy conflict severely impacted the already impoverished Arab nation, resulting in a death toll of approximately 150,000 people, with countless more suffering from malnutrition and other repercussions, leading the United Nations to label it as one of the most severe humanitarian crises globally.
Although violence subsided post a UN-mediated ceasefire in April 2022, the Houthis redirected their attacks towards Israel and Red Sea shipping lanes following Hamas’s assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering the Gaza conflict. These assaults on Red Sea vessels led to the sinking of two ships out of over 100 targeted, claiming the lives of four sailors by the end of 2024. The frequency of Houthi attacks decreased during each Gaza ceasefire, and nearly two months of U.S. airstrikes led to a pause in assaults on American ships.
The fragile peace of 2022 is deteriorating, potentially plunging Yemen into civil war and posing economic risks globally. The ceasefire’s tenuous tranquility shattered in July when the Houthis resumed attacks on Saudi Arabia after a Saudi airstrike targeted Sanaa’s international airport. The rebels alleged that this strike hindered the arrival of a flight carrying Houthi leaders from Iranian leader Ali Khamenei’s funeral.
The Houthi offensive expanded to the strategic island of Perim in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, as reported by four Yemeni government sources to Reuters on Friday. The Houthis have long sought control over this narrow passage between Yemen and Africa, a crucial global shipping lane opposite the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran and the U.S. are entangled in disputes. Iran claimed to have attacked ten ships near the Strait of Hormuz, retaliating after the U.S. sank five Iranian oil tankers.
The Washington, D.C.-based Institute for the Study of War explained that Houthi control over the Bab al-Mandab could disrupt Red Sea traffic, potentially enabling Iran to extract concessions from the U.S. and Gulf allies by impeding energy and shipping flow, imposing economic burdens on Gulf nations. Saudi Arabia, a major oil exporter, heavily relies on the Red Sea route since the Iran conflict effectively closed the Hormuz strait, through which a significant portion of global oil once flowed.
