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Yemen’s war, dormant under a truce since 2022, has exploded again in autumn 2026: the Houthis seized Mokha and the Red Sea coast in September, and the Saudi-backed government launched a counteroffensive on October 5 to retake all Houthi-held territory.

The two sides are the internationally recognized government, now run by the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) and backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and the Houthis (Ansar Allah), an Iran-aligned movement that has held the capital Sanaa since 2014. The PLC holds about 60% of Yemen’s territory, while the Houthis hold about 23% but most of the population.

Origins: 2004–2014

The movement that would come to dominate northern Yemen began in the rugged mountains of Saada province in the early 1990s. Founded by Hussein al-Houthi, a religious scholar and one-time member of parliament, it started as a cultural and religious revival network responding to what its followers saw as the marginalization of the north; a region that felt neglected by the central government in Sanaa and increasingly encroached upon by Saudi-backed Salafi institutions. Its early activities were largely peaceful: summer schools, youth camps and religious study circles.

The movement turned militant after 2003, when its leaders adopted fiercely anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans in the wake of the Iraq war and accused President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s government of being too close to Washington. Tensions boiled over in June 2004, when government forces tried to arrest al-Houthi; he was killed that September, and his death ignited six rounds of war between his followers and the state between 2004 and 2010.

The fighting left thousands dead, displaced hundreds of thousands, and transformed the group; now led by Hussein’s younger brother, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi; from a local protest movement into a battle-hardened militia that repeatedly fought the Yemeni army, and at one point Saudi forces along the border, to a standstill.

The 2011 Arab Spring uprising that toppled Saleh gave the Houthis their opening. As the state fractured and the transitional government in Sanaa struggled, the movement expanded out of its Saada stronghold, seizing territory across the north while presenting itself as an anti-corruption force standing outside a discredited political elite.

By mid-2014 its fighters were advancing on the capital, aided, in one of the war’s great ironies; by forces loyal to Saleh, the president who had waged six wars against them. In September 2014 the Houthis swept into Sanaa almost unopposed, setting in motion the collapse of the government and the wider war that followed.

• 2004 — Movement founder Hussein al-Houthi is killed by government forces. His family and followers wage six rounds of insurgency (the “Houthi wars”) against President Saleh, who accuses Iran of backing them.
• 2011–2012 — Arab Spring protests force Saleh out after 33 years. His deputy, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, takes over in a Gulf-brokered transition.
• September 2014 — Houthi fighters, now allied with forces loyal to Saleh, seize the capital Sanaa. This marks the start of the conflict in its current form.
• January 2015 — The Houthis force Hadi and his government to resign, dissolve parliament and place Hadi under house arrest. He later escapes to Aden, then Riyadh.

Intervention and blockade: 2015–2017

Saudi Arabia entered the war in March 2015 expecting a short air campaign that would quickly restore Hadi’s government and push the Houthis back to their northern heartland. Riyadh assembled a coalition of Arab states, imposed a naval blockade and took control of Yemen’s airspace, betting that airpower alone would break the Houthi-Saleh alliance within weeks.

Instead, the campaign settled into a grinding war of attrition: the coalition and its Yemeni allies retook Aden and much of the south, but Sanaa stayed firmly in Houthi hands, and the front lines hardened into a stalemate that neither side could break.

The human cost mounted rapidly. The blockade choked imports of food, fuel and medicine into a country that relied on them for survival, and by 2017 Yemen was facing one of the largest cholera outbreaks on record and UN warnings of the world’s worst famine in decades.

The war’s decisive shift came not on the battlefield but within the Houthi alliance itself: in December 2017, ex-president Saleh publicly broke with the Houthis and reached out to the coalition, and two days later, Houthi fighters killed him outside Sanaa, leaving the movement in sole, hardened control of the capital and the north.

• March 26, 2015 — Saudi Arabia and the UAE lead a coalition of Arab states in Operation Decisive Storm, launching airstrikes on Houthi positions in Sanaa at Hadi’s request. The coalition also imposes a naval blockade and takes control of Yemen’s airspace.
• April 21, 2015 — Riyadh declares Decisive Storm over and announces “Restoring Hope,” a political and military follow-on. Airstrikes resume within days; the Houthis still hold Sanaa.
• Mid-2015 — Coalition-backed forces push the Houthis out of Aden, which becomes the seat of the Hadi government.
• 2017 — Yemen suffers one of the largest cholera outbreaks on record. The Red Cross and UN pointed to the coalition’s bombing and blockade as central causes.
• November 2017 — After a Houthi missile is intercepted near Riyadh airport, the coalition closes Yemen’s ports and borders. The UN warns of the world’s largest famine in decades; the blockade is later eased.
• December 4, 2017 — Two days after Saleh publicly broke with the Houthis and reached out to the coalition, Houthi fighters kill him outside Sanaa. The Houthis take full control of the capital.

Stalemate and long-range war: 2018–2021

The ground war froze into stalemate after 2018, while the Houthis took the fight into Saudi Arabia itself with drones and missiles. A coalition push on Hodeidah, the Red Sea port through which most of Yemen’s food and medicine enters, threatened to cut the Houthis’ lifeline, until the UN-brokered Stockholm Agreement halted the assault in December 2018.

The deal set a local ceasefire, prisoner swaps and an understanding on Taiz, but implementation stalled and the port stayed in Houthi hands.

With the front lines largely static, the conflict increasingly played out in the skies. Houthi drones struck Aramco pumping stations near Riyadh in May 2019, and that September drones and missiles hit the Abqaiq processing plant and Khurais oilfield, briefly knocking out about half of Saudi output, an attack the Houthis claimed while Riyadh blamed Tehran.

In February 2021 the Houthis launched a costly offensive on Marib, the government’s last northern stronghold and its oil and gas hub, and drone and missile strikes on Saudi airports, oil facilities and the UAE intensified as the battle raged.

• June 2018 — Coalition-backed forces, spearheaded by the Southern Giants Brigades, push into Hodeidah, the Red Sea port through which most of Yemen’s food and medicine enters.
• December 13, 2018 — The UN-brokered Stockholm Agreement halts the Hodeidah assault and sets a local ceasefire, prisoner swaps and a Taiz understanding. Implementation stalls; Hodeidah stays in Houthi hands.
• May 2019 — Houthi drones hit Aramco pumping stations on the East-West pipeline near Riyadh.
• September 14, 2019 — Drones and missiles strike Aramco’s Abqaiq processing plant and Khurais oilfield, briefly knocking out about half of Saudi output. The Houthis claimed the attack while Riyadh blamed Tehran.
• February 2021 — Weeks after Washington removed the Houthis from its terrorism list, they launch an offensive on Marib, the government’s last northern stronghold and its oil and gas hub. Thousands of fighters die; the city does not fall.
• 2021–early 2022 — Houthi drone and missile strikes on Saudi airports, oil facilities and the UAE intensify as Marib fighting rages.

Truce and talks: 2022–2023

A UN truce in April 2022 ended most large-scale fighting and brought Yemen its closest thing to peace in seven years: fuel ships returned to Hodeidah, commercial flights resumed from Sanaa airport for the first time since 2016, and front lines that had claimed thousands of lives fell largely quiet.

Though the truce formally lapsed that October, neither side returned to all-out war, and Riyadh, increasingly eager to exit a costly conflict it could not win militarily, shifted from fighting the Houthis to negotiating with them directly, first through Omani mediators and eventually face to face.

Back-channel talks on a permanent ceasefire, salary payments for civil servants in Houthi areas, and the reopening of roads around Taiz raised hopes of a final settlement, even as deep mistrust, unresolved disputes over oil revenue, and the Houthis’ tightening grip on state institutions kept a signed deal just out of reach.

• January 2022 — Houthi drones strike Abu Dhabi; coalition airstrikes, including on a detention centre, kill dozens in Yemen.
• April 2, 2022 — A UN-brokered two-month nationwide truce takes effect, the first since 2016. It is renewed twice and formally lapses in October 2022, but fighting largely stays on hold.
• April 7, 2022 — Hadi hands power to an eight-member Presidential Leadership Council chaired by Rashad al-Alimi, announced from Riyadh. The council unites rival anti-Houthi factions, including southern separatists.
• March–April 2023 — A China-brokered Saudi-Iran détente is followed by a Saudi-Omani delegation’s visit to Sanaa and a large prisoner exchange.
• September 14–19, 2023 — A Houthi delegation makes its first official visit to Riyadh and meets Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman.
• December 2023 — The UN envoy announces both sides’ commitment to a roadmap for a nationwide ceasefire, salary payments and reopened roads. It is never signed.

A wider war: late 2023 – mid-2026

While the Saudi front stayed quiet after the 2022 truce, the Houthis redirected their firepower outward, transforming themselves from a Yemeni faction into a regional actor. Citing solidarity with Gaza, the group hijacked the cargo ship Galaxy Leader in November 2023 and began attacking Red Sea shipping, forcing global carriers to reroute around Africa and drawing US and UK airstrikes on Yemeni soil from January 2024, along with Washington’s re-listing of the group as a terrorist organization.

The confrontation steadily escalated: a Houthi drone killed a person in Tel Aviv in July 2024, prompting Israeli strikes on Hodeidah port, and President Trump ordered a large-scale US air campaign against the group in March 2025.

Two months later Washington and the Houthis agreed a separate ceasefire that halted American strikes in exchange for an end to attacks on US vessels, and the Houthi-Israeli exchange of fire finally stopped after the Gaza ceasefire in October 2025.

But the calm proved brief, when the US-Israeli war on Iran began in 2026, the Houthis openly sided with Tehran, and with the Strait of Hormuz largely closed, Saudi Arabia was forced to lean heavily on Red Sea export routes such as Yanbu, setting the stage for the confrontation that would reignite the war at home.

• November 2023 — The Houthis hijack the cargo ship Galaxy Leader and begin attacking Red Sea shipping they link to Israel, citing the war in Gaza.
• January 11, 2024 — The US and UK begin airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. Washington re-lists the group as a terrorist organization.
• July 2024 — A Houthi drone kills one person in Tel Aviv; Israel strikes Hodeidah port in response.
• March 2025 — President Trump orders a large-scale US air campaign against the Houthis.
• May 2025 — The US and the Houthis agree a separate ceasefire: Washington halts strikes and the group stops targeting US vessels. Israeli strikes put Sanaa airport out of action.
• October 2025 — Houthi-Israeli attacks stop after the Gaza ceasefire.
• 2026 — The Houthis openly side with Tehran in the US-Israeli war on Iran. With the Strait of Hormuz largely closed, Saudi Arabia leans on Red Sea export routes such as Yanbu.

The war reignites: July–October 2026

A strike on Sanaa airport in July ended four years of Saudi-Houthi calm, shattering the uneasy quiet that had held since the 2022 truce.

The immediate trigger was a funeral: an Iranian plane flying a Houthi delegation to Tehran for the burial of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, followed by the bombing of Sanaa’s runway to stop it landing on its return. Within days the Houthis were firing missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia, declaring the truce over and imposing a naval blockade on Saudi ports, while Riyadh answered with a new regional defense pact alongside Türkiye and Pakistan.

By September the Houthis had swept down the Red Sea coast, seizing Mokha, Perim Island and the Hanish islands to put the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, one of the world’s most vital shipping chokepoints, within their grasp, and by October both sides were fighting openly for the waterway as Saudi allies deployed forces and the recognized government launched its largest offensive in years. The UN says the renewed fighting displaced more than 145,000 people in its first weeks alone.

• July 3 — An Iranian Mahan Air plane flies to Sanaa, without government approval, to take a Houthi delegation to the funeral of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
• July 13 — Sanaa airport’s runway is bombed to stop the plane landing on its return. The Houthis blame Riyadh; Yemen’s government says its own forces struck. The Houthis fire missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia’s Abha airport and declare the truce over.
• July 20 — The Houthis declare a naval blockade on Saudi ports and shipping, accusing the kingdom of a “siege” of their territory.
• August — Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan sign the Mecca defense pact, treating an attack on one as an attack on all. Houthi missiles hit the government-held port of Mokha.
• September 3 — The Houthis open a general offensive along the Red Sea coast.
• September 10–11 — They capture Mokha, then Perim Island in the middle of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Dhubab and the Hanish islands, freeing about 200 jailed fighters.
• Mid-September — Riyadh says it shot down a Houthi drone heading for Mecca; Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi calls the claim a lie.
• September 19–20 — Houthi missiles and drones target Riyadh, with smoke seen near King Khalid International Airport, and Aramco facilities in Yanbu. Saudi-led jets resume strikes inside Yemen.
• September 21 — Houthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti says only Saudi-linked ships will be targeted in the strait, and confirms indirect contacts with Washington via Oman.
• October 1–2 — The coalition accuses the Houthis of hitting a power station supplying Medina’s Prophet’s Mosque. The Houthis deny it; Türkiye vows to stand by Riyadh.
• October 4 — PLC chief Rashad al-Alimi orders operations to retake all Houthi-held territory. The Houthis claim the capture of Turbah and the Taiz-Aden road.
• October 5 — The government launches Operation Dawn of Yemen and a “strategic offensive” on Sanaa. The coalition says 100 jets are flying cover and 324 targets were destroyed; government forces claim Dhubab. The Mecca alliance activates force deployments to Saudi Arabia; Britain adds air refueling and France sends air defenses to Yanbu.
• October 5–6 — The Houthis claim strikes on Riyadh’s airport and Aramco’s Rabigh refinery; Riyadh confirms damage at Jizan and Najran airports. More than 270 fighters are reported killed in 24 hours. Al-Bukhaiti says government troops never reached Mokha or the strait, and warns Türkiye and Pakistan to stay out.

The UN says the renewed fighting has displaced more than 145,000 people since September. The PLC’s share of Yemen is about 60% of the territory and the Houthis’ 23%, with most of the population on the Houthi side.