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Houthis besiege the city of Taiz
A City Under Siege
Residents and officials in Taiz described in phone interviews hospitals using up their last medical supplies. The siege is entering its third week and is part of an escalating war between the Iran-backed Houthis and the Yemeni government, which is supported by Saudi Arabia.
Missiles and Port Seizure
On Monday, the Houthis fired ballistic missiles at a Yemeni military camp, killing more than 70 people, according to a local official. The Houthis have also captured a strategic port on the Red Sea and launched increasingly brazen waves of missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, including deadly strikes at the main airport in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
Saudi Conference Postponed
Saudi officials announced this week that they will postpone the country's marquee investment conference, nicknamed Davos in the Desert.
How does a siege starve a city?
A siege cuts the roads that carry food, fuel, medicine, and water into a city, so stores shrink with each day. Without fuel, pumps and generators stop, which cuts the water supply and the power that hospitals depend on. Taiz has lived through a blockade before: United Nations reports describe years of closed roads around the city after 2015, when it became a front line in Yemen's war.
Why did Saudi Arabia enter Yemen's war?
The Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in September 2014 and pushed south toward Aden in early 2015, forcing Yemen's president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, to flee. In March 2015, Saudi Arabia led a coalition of Arab states to restore his government. Saudi officials have pointed to the Houthis' ties to Iran and to the group's position on Saudi Arabia's southern border. The United Nations has described Yemen's war as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
Why do Red Sea ports matter so much?
Yemen imported about 90 percent of its staple food before the war, according to the United Nations, and the Red Sea ports have been a main way in for food and fuel. Whoever holds a port gains leverage over who gets supplies and over the customs revenue. The Red Sea also leads to the Suez Canal, which carries roughly 12 percent of global trade, a figure commonly cited by shipping analysts. Houthi attacks on ships in 2023 and 2024 pushed many carriers to sail around Africa instead.
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