Yemen’s Houthis Capture Red Sea Port City, Threatening New Front in War

People sit in a fishing boat sailing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off of Yemen's southern Taiz province on July 25, 2026. —Khaled Ziad—AFP/Getty Images Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have captured Yemen’s port city of Mokha from Saudi-backed government forces, potentially opening up a second theater in the war between the U.S. and Iran .

The capture of Mokha marks the Houthis’ largest territorial gain since a 2022 cease-fire in Yemen that paused major fighting between the group and Yemen’s government.

The Houthis also disrupted shipping in 2024 in response to Israel’s occupation and bombardment of Gaza, which prompted the U.S. and U.K. to carry out deadly strikes on Yemen .

The Houthis swept south along the Red Sea coast before taking Mokha on Thursday and subsequently reached the Hanish archipelago, Yemeni government sources told Reuters .

A Yemeni commander and a member of the Houthis’ political bureau separately confirmed the Houthi capture of Mokha to the Associated Press .

Government forces retreated south toward Dhubab, which overlooks Bab el-Mandeb .

Yemen’s government has reportedly launched airstrikes west of Taiz and warned civilians to avoid roads between Taiz and Mokha.

Houthi-owned Al-Masirah TV reported that Saudi-backed forces launched 40 airstrikes on the provinces of Taiz, Jawf, Hodeida, and Marib.

Observers and Yemeni residents fear the escalation could renew an all-out civil war in Yemen.

“This renewed war should alarm us all,” Hans Grundberg, the U.N. special envoy for Yemen, said at an emergency meeting of the U.N.

Security Council on Thursday.

“It effectively marks the end of the relative calm that Yemen has experienced for over four years since the U.N.-brokered truce.” Capturing the southwestern port also strengthens the Houthis’ ability to threaten shipping through Bab el-Mandeb, a waterway through which around 12% of global trade normally passes.

The strait, which lies between Yemen, Djibouti and Eritrea and links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, has become more important since Iran militarized the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the U.S. and Israel’s Feb.

28 strikes.