‘Fed up with war’: Yemenis fear new conflict after Houthi Red Sea attacks

Many Yemenis worry that the Houthi attacks on Red Sea vessels will spark a new war for their embattled nation.

Sanaa, Yemen — When Israel’s war on Gaza broke out on October 7, Saleh Abdullah, a 48-year-old supermarket owner in Sanaa, joined pro-Palestine mass protests, expressing his solidarity with the besieged enclave. It never crossed his mind that the Houthi armed group that controls Yemen’s capital and large parts of the country would intervene militarily.

On October 19, a United States warship intercepted drones and missiles fired from Yemen as they were heading to Israel. Later, the Houthi group, which has been the de facto authority in north Yemen since 2015, claimed responsibility for firing ballistic missiles at Israel, announcing to launch more.

Abdullah celebrated. “When the Houthis declared sending missiles and drones towards Israel, the news lifted our morale and brought a sense of euphoria,” he said.

But that sentiment was short-lived, as Abdullah began to ponder over the repercussions of the escalation when his country is awash with multiple crises, including political instability, military rivalry and an unhealthy economy, and diplomatic talks to conclusively end years of fighting have remained inconclusive.

Now, a spate of attacks by the Houthis on ships transiting through the Red Sea — which the Yemeni group argues are aimed at pressuring Israel to end the war on Gaza that has killed almost 20,000 people — has triggered a backlash from the West.