Direct Saudi-Houthi talks intensified in October, even while UN-backed efforts to reinstate and expand the truce that expired October 2 stalled and the Houthis and the Yemeni government escalated their words and actions. Riyadh and the Houthi authorities publicly exchanged delegations on October 12. While both sides portrayed these delegations as technical teams working toward a prisoner exchange, the Sana’a…

Houthi drone and missile strikes on government-controlled oil ports in mid-October marked the first significant post-truce military escalation, although neither the government nor the Houthis immediately launched major ground offensives. Fighting along frontlines nationwide after the truce ended October 2 occurred in southwestern Yemen, in Taiz, Lahj and Hudaydah governorates. In their troop movements and fortification of positions, both sides…

After weeks of warnings, Houthi authorities followed through on their threat to target Yemen’s oil and gas industry, striking near oil terminals in Shabwa and Hadramawt. There was no damage from the drone strikes, but they did result in a temporary halt in oil exports, diminishing revenues for the already cash-strapped government. If the attacks achieve their intended effect of…

Flooding and flood-related displacement eased in October compared to previous months. However, authorities continued to battle a mosquito-spread dengue fever outbreak in Taiz governorate that has infected over 8,000 people and led to five deaths. Hospitals in Taiz governorate documented nearly 1,000 patients with the illness in October alone, according to medical workers and a source in the Taiz Health…

The second Yemen International Forum will take place in The Hague, Netherlands, in June 2023, the Dutch government and the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies announced on Thursday, October 27, 2022. H.E. Ambassador of the Kingdom of The Netherlands to Yemen Peter-Derrek Hof made the announcement during a virtual press conference organized by Sana'a Center to discuss the outcomes of…

Houthi restrictions on women’s rights have become increasingly oppressive in recent months. Retrograde efforts to control women are ever more common, most conspicuously through the procedure of requiring the approval of a male guardian, or mahram, for all manner of activities. The mahram can be any male member of the family, including the father, husband, brother, or even a young…

With few advances in Yemen’s formal peace track since the 2016 Kuwait negotiations, the UN-led effort to achieve a sustainable peace must be better integrated with Yemeni initiatives if it is to succeed. This was the premise of the Yemen International Forum (YIF), held on June 17-19, 2022, in Stockholm, Sweden, which brought together international actors with Yemeni political stakeholders, individuals involved in parallel initiatives to the formal political process, youth and civil society representatives, experts and academics. By providing…

The truce between Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the armed Houthi movement, in place since April, was allowed to expire without renewal on October 2. The UN-facilitated agreement birthed the longest sustained period of relative peace since the conflict began, with a concomitant drop off in civilian casualties. September was dominated by fruitless negotiations to extend and expand the agreement.…