A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition has said the aim is to "cut the vein that the Houthis are benefiting from." But a Houthi leader has called for his followers to join the fight in Hodeida and confront the "breach."
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/N. El-Mofty
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Pro-government forces are closing in on the strategic port city of Hodeida, said a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition late Monday.
"The Yemeni army backed by the coalition is around 20 kilometers [12 miles] outside Hodeida and military operations are ongoing," said coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki during a press conference in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
Hodeida, a port city on the Red Sea, is known as the country's main gateway for humanitarian aid. But Saudi Arabia believes the port is also being used to smuggle in weapons from Iran, an allegation both the Houthis and Tehran have long denied.
"Our goal is to cut the vein that the Houthis are benefiting from," al-Maliki said.
Houthis rally
The Houthis have started to prepare for the battle in the port city, with Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi calling on Shiite forces to defend Hodeida.
In a televised statement, al-Houthi urged his followers and fellow tribesmen to join the fight for Hodeida, saying it was time to confront the "breach."
In 2014, Houthi rebels launched a campaign to capture the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and oust President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who now heads an internationally recognized government in exile in Saudi Arabia.
A year later, Saudi Arabia launched a brutal aerial campaign to push out the Shiite rebels and restore Hadi's government. Since then, more than 10,000 people have been killed and thousands more displaced in what the UN has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
'All civil wars end'
Coalition-backed pro-government forces have made significant gains over the past year. For observers, the question isn't whether they can take the port city.
"It's what they intend to do next. Can they use control of the port to ensure humanitarian supplies can get in unimpeded? Will they use the military victory to press for political talks?" said Gerald Feierstein, a former US ambassador to Yemen and director of the Washington-based Middle East Institute, in a tweet.
"All civil wars end. Whether the ending is sustainable is the right question. Yemen has tried repeatedly to find permanent solutions to its systemic problems but failed. We need to understand why and avoid repeating the errors of the past."
Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis
Yemen has struggled to cope with crises prompted by its atrocious civil war, including catastrophic hunger and devastating cholera outbreaks. DW examines the conflict and how it affects the country's civilian population.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
War: The 'root cause' of Yemen's disasters
The UN has identified conflict as the "root cause" of Yemen's crises. Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the war erupted in 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels launched a campaign to capture the capital, Sanaa. In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition launched a deadly campaign against the rebels, one that has been widely criticized by human rights groups for its high civilian death toll.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Fighting keeps food from the famished
The conflict has prevented humanitarian aid from reaching large parts of the civilian population, resulting in more than two-thirds of the country's 28 million people being classified as "food insecure." Nearly 3 million children and pregnant or nursing women are acutely malnourished, according to the UN World Food Program.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Displacement: Converging crises
More than 3 million people have been displaced by conflict, including marginalized communities such as the "Muhammasheen," a minority tribe that originally migrated from Africa. Despite the civil war, many flee conflict in Somalia and head to Yemen, marking the convergence of two major migration crises in the Middle East nation. Yemen hosts around 250,000 Somali refugees, according to UNHCR.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Cholera: A deadly epidemic
The number of suspected cholera cases has exceeded more than 2 million and least 3,700 people have died from the waterborne bacterial infection in Yemen since October 2019, said the WHO. Although cholera can be easily treated, it can kill within hours when untreated.
Image: Reuters/K. Abdullah
Unsuspecting victims of the'war on terror'
In Yemen, violence goes beyond civil conflict: It is considered a strategic front in the war on terrorism. The country serves as the operational base for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, dubbed the "most dangerous" terrorist group before the rise of the "Islamic State." The US routinely uses drones to target al-Qaida leadership. However, civilians have often been killed in the operations.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Y. Arhab
Children's fate: Future marred by tragedy
In a country paralyzed by conflict, children are one of the most at-risk groups in Yemen. More than 12 million children require humanitarian aid, according to the UN humanitarian coordination agency. The country's education system is "on the brink of collapse," while children are dying of "preventable causes like malnutrition, diarrhea and respiratory tract infections," according to the agency.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Peace: An elusive future
Despite several attempts at UN-backed peace talks, the conflict continues to rage on. Saudi Arabia has vowed to continue supporting the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. On the other hand, Houthi rebels have demanded the formation of a unity government in order to move forward on a political solution. A peace deal, however, remains elusive.
